INDIAN   WARS    OF 
NEW    ENGLAND 


BY 


HERBERT    MILTON   SYLVESTER 


THREE    VOLUMES 
VOL,   I. 


BOSTON 

W.    B.    CLARKE    COMPANY 
MCMX 


Copyright,  1910,  by  Herbert  M.   Sylvester 


Done  at  The  Everett  Press,  Boston 


TO  MY   WIFE 
THE   INSPIRER  AND  LOVING   CRITIC 

OF  ALL  MY  LABORS 

I  AFFECTIONATELY  DEDICATE 

THIS   WORK 


PREFACE 

fTlHE  Compiler  of  an  History  can  challenge  little 
JL  to  himself  but  methodizing  his  Work,  the  Ma 
terials  being  found  ready  to  his  Hand;  Diligence 
in  gathering  them  together,  and  Faithfulness  in 
improving  them,  is  all  that  is  upon  the  point  re 
quired  of  him;  in  both  which  I  have  endeavoured 
to  make  good  what  the  Profession  I  have  now 
taken  up  obliges  me  unto." 

An  Advertisement  to  the  Reader, 
Hubbard's  "Indian  Wars.'9 


[5] 


AN  ADVERTISEMENT   TO 
THE  READER 

IN  this  relation  of  the  conflict  between  the  Eng 
lish  settler  and  the  New  England  aborigine,  the 
author  leaves  the  field  of  ethnologic  investigation 
to  the  more  curious  and  speculative  student.  After 
the  Relations  of  the  Jesuits,  and  of  Ventromile, 
Lincoln,  Kidder,  Leland,  Higginson,  and  O'Brion, 
there  seems  very  little  to  be  added  of  a  people 
who  ceased  to  exist  a  century  and  a  half  ago,  and 
whose  origin  and  history  are  involved  in  obscure 
tradition  prior  to  the  advent  of  Waymouth  and 
Champlain. 

The  origin,  especially,  of  the  New  England 
Indian  is  a  matter  wholly  of  conjecture.  His 
annihilation,  however,  is  an  historic  fact.  It  is 
with  the  finals  of  his  savage  activities,  in  which 
the  Levitical  concept  was  observed  to  the  letter, 
that  the  author  is  compelled,  by  the  historic  areas 
to  be  surveyed,  to  be  content. 


[6] 


LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES 

THE   author   of   "The   Indian   Wars   of  New 
England"   acknowledges  his  indebtedness  to 
the  following  authorities  in  the  preparation  of  his 
work,   for   which   he   desires   to   give   the   proper 
credit:  - 

Acadiensis 

Adams,  Portsmouth 

Banvard,  Pilgrims 

Barry,  History  of  Massachusetts 

Baylie,  Old  Colony 

Belknap,  New  Hampshire 

Bodge,  Narragansett 

Bourne,  History  of  Wells  and  Kennebunk 

Bouton,  LoveweWs  Fight 

Bradford,  Plymouth 

Caverly 

Charlevoix,  Canada  (Shea) 

Cheever,  Puritans 

DeForest,  Indians  of  Connecticut 

Dexter,  Church's  King  Philip's  War 

Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  Old  Indian  Chronicles 

Freeman,  Civilization  and  Barbarism 

Frost,  Book  of  the  Colonies 

Higginson 

Hubbard,  Indian  Wars,  History  of  New  England 

Hutchinson,  Letters 

Jackson,  Early  Settlers 

Johnson,  Deerfield 

Lechford,  Plain  Dealing 

[7] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

Leland,  Algonquin  Legends 

Lincoln,  Abenake  Language 

Lithgow-Douglass,  Dictionary  of  Indian  Names 

Maine  Historical  Collections 

Morton 

Neale,  Puritans 

O'Brion,  Abenake  Language 

Palfrey,  History  of  New  England 

Parkman 

Penhallow,  Indian  Wars 

Pierce,  Indian  History  and  Genealogy 

Purchas 

Rogers,  Rangers 

Sew  all,  Papers 

Thacher,  Plymouth 

Trumbull,  Indian  Wars 

Ventromile,  Abenake  Language 

Willis,  History  of  Portland 

Winsor,  Memorial  History  of  Boston 

Winsor,  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America 

Winthrop,  Letters 

Wood,  New  England  Prospect 

Young,  Chronicles 

Consulting  both  original  and  contemporary 
sources,  the  author  does  not  claim  to  have  dis 
covered  anything  new  after  the  lapse  of  centuries, 
but  he  has  endeavored  to  give  some  shape  to  the 
disheveled  data  of  numerous  chroniclers,  whose 
relations  seemed  to  him  to  be  mostly  matters  of 
place,  with  neither  beginning  nor  end,  and  in  some 
instances,  apparently,  of  very  little  accomplishment 
or  value.  In  "The  Indian  Wars  of  New  England," 

[8] 


LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES 

as  herein  chronicled,  a  complete,  continuous,  and 
chronological  relation  of  a  century  of  Indian  war 
fare  is  for  the  first  time  offered  to  the  historical 
student.  The  only  apology  the  author  has  to  make 
is  his  surprise  at  the  amount  of  rubbish  that  has 
been  garbed  as  history  and  mounted  upon  the 
pedestal  of  alleged  erudition. 


[9] 


SUB-TITLES 

TOPOGRAPHY  OF  INDIAN  TRIBES 
THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 
THE  PEQUOD  WAR 
WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 


FOREWORD 

TO  the  student  of  Indian  history  of  the  early 
New  England  period  the  catalogue  of  the  li 
brarian  would  allow  one  to  infer  that  the  ground 
had  been  already  preempted  by  Mr.  William  Hub- 
bard  and  some  other  well-known  writers  upon  the 
savage  tragedies  of  the  early  New  England  days, 
whose  labors  are  more  famous  for  being  a  quaint 
reflection  of  the  times  than  for  comprehensive 
treatment  of  the  subject  at  hand.  Without  Mr. 
Drake's  labors,  allied  to  those  of  Church  and  Bel- 
knap,  the  earlier  story  would  be  a  meager  one.  It 
is  to  these  authors  one  goes  with  assurance  and  in 
finite  satisfaction,  and  one  feels  safe  in  accepting 
them  as  authorities  upon  the  matters  of  which  they 
write.  Mr.  Hubbard,  who  is  most  tedious  in  his 
narrative,  leaves  one  at  the  threshold  of  Mr.  Pen- 
hallow's  "  Relation, "  which  brings  one  to  the  verge 
of  1726;  while  Mr.  Palfrey's  consideration  of  the 
events  which  limit  the  scope  of  the  present  work  is 
general  rather  than  subjective.  Unquestionably, 
Mr.  Palfrey  offers  very  little  of  the  conflicts  of  the 
English  settler  with  the  Indians.  His  objective  was 
a  "History  of  New  England,"  to  which  the  depre 
dations  of  the  savages  were  necessarily  incidental. 
With  Gardener's  "Pequod  Wars"  and  Church's 
"Philip's  War"  is  ushered  in  a  decade  of  peaceful 

[13] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

years,  the  termination  of  which  leaves  one  upon 
the  threshold  of  a  most  sanguinary  conflict  which 
broke  out  anew  in  1688,  and  in  which  the  stage  of 
activities  was  shifted  from  the  purlieus  of  Mount 
Hope1  to  the  northern  boundaries  of  New  Hamp 
shire  and  eastward  about  the  marshes  of  old  Scar 
borough  and  the  islands  of  Merry-meeting  Bay. 

Isolate  attacks  were  made  upon  the  Connect 
icut  River  settlements  at  the  outset;  but  with  the 
destruction  of  Hadley  and  Deerfield,  and  one  or 
two  towns  in  the  Hudson  River  Valley,  the  set 
tlers  along  the  coast  of  Maine  and  about  the 
Piscataqua  bore  the  brunt  of  the  terror  and  dev 
astation  which  everywhere  followed  in  the  wake 
of  the  savage  allies  of  the  French  whose  out 
posts  at  Norridgewock  and  Pentagoet  afforded  the 
Jesuit,  Rale,  and  the  son-in-law  of  Madockawando, 
St.  Castin,  ample  seclusion  in  which  to  foment 
and  perfect  their  plots  under  the  guiding  hand  of 
Frontenac,  whose  great  labor  was  the  progress  of 
New  France  and  the  extension  of  its  domain  as 
far  to  the  west  as  Albany  and  the  country  about 
the  Hudson  and  Iroquois,  and  as  far  south  as 
New  York.  From  1677  to  1685  the  Indians  had 
been  peaceable.  There  were  mutterings  of  a 
storm  along  the  uplands  of  the  Scarborough 
lands,  where  lived  Henry  Jocelyn  and  the  Algers. 

1  Mount  Hope  is  supposed  to  be  a  corruption  of  Montaup. 
Banvard,  Plymouth  and  the  Pilgrims,  p.  215. 

[14] 


FOREWORD 

It  broke  and  passed  with  a  half-dozen  savage 
butcheries,  in  which  the  Algers  paid  the  penalty 
of  their  greed  of  land  and  their  ungenerous  atti 
tude  toward  their  savage  grantors.  Jocelyn  had 
been  made  a  captive  by  Mugg,  the  Saco  sachem, 
and  released.  An  exchange  of  captives  was  made, 
and  the  Scarborough  settlers  turned  to  the  tilling 
of  their  acres  anew,  while  Scottow  began  the  build 
ing  of  his  fort.  Frontenac  had  been  recalled. 
Denonville  had  superseded  him,  and,  in  the  whirl 
of  events,  Frontenac,  who  was  hanging  about  the 
court  of  Louis  xiv.,  then  at  the  zenith  of  its  bril 
liancy,  needy  and  out  of  kingly  favor,  pushed  by 
influential  friends  and  a  wife  whose  subtle  intrigu 
ing  was  to  prove  of  service  to  her  ambitious  hus 
band,  was  about  to  see  his  fortunes  mended. 

Frontenac  had  his  faults.  He  was  fiery  and 
headstrong;  but  he  was  as  keenly  active  and  ener 
getic,  and  of  an  unconquerable  vitality.  Denon 
ville  proved  to  be  a  bitter  disappointment  to  his 
master,  and  the  king  was  not  wholly  unmindful 
of  Frontenac,  to  whom  he  had  presented  a  "grati 
fication"  of  3,500  francs.  Letters  from  Denon 
ville  betrayed  the  desperate  state  of  affairs  at 
Quebec.  In  his  need  the  king  determined  to  re 
store  Frontenac  to  the  dignity  of  which  he  had 
stripped  him  seven  years  before.  He  summoned 
Frontenac  into  his  presence  and,  remarking  that 
it  was  his  belief  that  the  charges  which  had  led  to 
his  recall  were  unfounded,  he  added,  "I  send  you 

[15] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

back  to  Canada,  where  I  am  sure  that  you  will 
serve  me  as  well  as  you  did  before;  and  I  ask 
nothing  more  of  you."1 

Frontenac  was  in  his  seventieth  year.  It  was 
Denonville's  plan  to  carry  the  war  into  the  English 
colonies.  His  plan  was  accepted  by  the  king  in  a 
modified  form,  but  one  which  made  the  wished- 
for  results  more  doubtful.  New  York  was  the  ob 
jective-point,  the  immediate  conquest  of  which  was 
decided  upon.  The  raids  upon  Cascoe  and  the 
towns  to  the  south  along  the  coast,  the  devastation 
of  the  New  Hampshire  border,  and  the  destruction 
of  Schenectady  were  almost  simultaneously  ac 
complished  by  the  three  war  parties  sent  out 
respectively  from  Montreal,  Three  Rivers,  and 
Quebec.  This  was  in  1690.  In  this  year  Pemaquid 
was  destroyed;  Salmon  Falls  as  well.  The  trail  of 
the  savage  wound  through  the  woods  of  old  York; 
and  everywhere  in  its  wake  were  the  smokes  of 
burning  cabins  and  the  stark  figures  of  the  set 
tlers,  dead  and  mutilated,  almost  across  their  own 
thresholds. 

This  was  twelve  years  after  the  ending  of  King 
Philip's  War,  the  beginning  of  an  era  of  savagery 
that  has  been  paralleled  nowhere  in  the  history  of 
civilization. 

Hubbard's  story  is  perhaps  sufficient,  so  far  as  it 
goes;  yet  here  at  the  second  coming  of  Frontenac 


,  Oraison  Funtbre  du  Compte  de  Frontenac. 
[16] 


FOREWORD 

began  a  new  era  of  savage  barbarities  that  were  to 
extend  through  a  half-dozen  Indian  outbreaks,  at 
the  instigation  of  the  French,  and  which  were  to 
cover  a  span  of  two  generations  with  all  the  de 
moralization  of  flame  and  bloodshed.  And  while 
the  author  has  it  in  mind  to  go  back  to  the  begin 
ning  of  things  colonial,  he  hopes  he  may  be  able 
to  add  something  of  interest  to  the  narrations  that 
have  gone  before,  and  which  have  found  many  in 
terpreters  whose  stories  have  been  perpetuated  in 
reprints,  which  of  itself  is  but  an  added  proof  that 
the  author  need  to  make  no  apology  for  the  work 
he  has  undertaken.  The  material  is  abundant.  In 
the  main  it  is  veracious.  The  difficulty  seems  to  be 
in  the  matter  of  selection  so  as  not  to  over-burden 
the  work  with  that  which  takes  on  some  color  of 
value  more  from  local  tradition  than  from  its  actual 
importance  as  a  record  of  the  so-called  lean  days, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  enable  the  impartial  reader 
to  realize  unconsciously  the  historical  truthfulness 
of  the  events  portrayed.  The  story  is  told  chrono 
logically,  as  one  would  unwind  a  strand  of  yarn 
from  its  reel.  If  the  author's  notes  at  times  seem 
to  be  somewhat  in  extenso,  it  is  because  he  has  pre 
ferred  to  offer  them  to  the  reader  under  the  color 
of  a  personal  comment,  rather  than  as  a  part  of  the 
text,  thus  avoiding  that  disposition  to  digression 
which,  while  it  illuminates,  is  apt  to  impair  the 
directness  of  the  relation. 

The  interest  of  the  author  in  Indian  lore,  or, 
[17] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

more  particularly,  Indian  history  as  related  to 
the  early  settlements  of  New  England,  has  been 
crystallized  somewhat  in  his  story  of  the  Pioneer 
Settlements  of  the  Maine  Coast —  a  relation  which 
terminated  with  the  closing  years  of  the  peace  fol 
lowing  the  death  of  King  Philip.  With  the  comple 
tion  of  this  work  the  author  hopes  to  have  paid  his 
debt  of  admiration  to  the  sturdy  characteristics  of 
his  forefathers,  and  as  well  to  have  afforded  to 
others  some  inspiration  to  continue  the  investiga 
tion  here  begun.  It  is  the  story  of  a  great  and 
significant  drama,  the  stage-settings  of  which  are 
the  green  woods  of  the  wilderness, — their  somber 
shadows  and  ominous  silences  by  day,  and  their 
horde  of  voiceless  terrors 

"When  Night's  black  mantle  covers  all  the  world," — 

a  mingling  of  tragedy  and  romance,  in  which  Fate 
severed  the  thread  of  the  French  power  upon  the 
continent  of  North  America  at  the  inevitable  mo 
ment,  but  at  what  cost  to  the  New  World  dwellers 
upon  the  English  frontiers  of  1688  and  1759  can 
never  be  estimated. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


[18] 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF   INDIAN   TRIBES 


TOPOGRAPHY   OF   INDIAN   TRIBES 

FROM  the  nature  of  the  two  races  it  was  in 
evitable  that,  on  the  part  of  the  English,  there 
should  be  a  contemptuous  indifference  to  the  red 
man;  while  on  the  part  of  the  latter  it  was  as  in 
evitable  that  in  time  the  spirit  of  hatred  and  ven 
geance  should  replace  the  courteous  generosity  of 
the  great  Massasoit  and  his  contemporaries,  Samo- 
set  and  Canonicus.  The  English  settler,  as  typified 
in  the  Puritan, — who,  by  the  way,  is  not  to  be  con 
founded  with  the  Separatists  of  the  Plymouth 
Colony, — was  the  antithesis  of  the  aborigine  of  the 
New  World.1  To  the  Puritan  the  Indian  was  a 

1  The  term  "Puritan,"  as  a  generic  appellation  of  the  Eng 
lish  who  comprised  the  settlements  from  Cape  Cod  to  Cape 
Ann,  is  misleading.  The  terms  "Pilgrim"  and  "Puritan" 
by  many  writers  have  been  used  interchangeably,  as  if  their 
religions  and  politics  were  identical.  The  terms  are  not 
synonymous.  The  Puritans  were  of  the  Established  Episcopal 
Church;  yet  while  they  retained  this  connection,  they  were 
self-appointed  reformers  of  its  doctrines  and  practices.  They 
yielded  to  the  supremacy  of  the  king  as  the  head  of  the 
Church,  whose  articles  of  faith  they  accepted,  while  protesting 
against  certain  alleged  abuses  with  which  they  claimed  it  was 
infected.  Laboring  for  the  eradication  of  the  same  as  a  process 
of  internal  purification,  they  were  known  as  Puritans.  Gov 
ernor  Winthrop  was  the  head  of  this  particular  cult. 

The  Plymouth  people  were  separated  from  the  Established 

[21] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

heathen,  without  rights  or  privileges,  and  he  was 
treated  accordingly. 

The  Indian  was  among  the  rudest  of  the  abo 
riginal  races.  His  language  was  untameably  rugged ; 

Church.  They  were  non-conformists,  disputing  the  domina 
tion  of  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  powers  in  matters  of  con 
science,  especially  that  interference  which  would  make  it 
compulsory  upon  them  to  observe  a  form  of  worship  which, 
according  to  their  belief,  was  offensive  to  God.  They  claimed 
entire  freedom  of  conscience.  Their  ultimate  act  was  seces 
sion  from  the  parent  body,  to  become  known  as  Separatists. 

There  was  a  wide  difference  in  their  religious  beliefs  and 
practices  from  those  of  the  Puritans.  When  they  left  English 
Plymouth  for  the  New  World  they  left  it  as  pilgrims,  and 
they  became  Pilgrims,  indeed.  As  the  settlers  of  Plymouth, 
they  are  properly  designated  as  the  Pilgrim  Fathers.  They 
were  of  a  proscribed  sect.  They  were  without  a  charter,  pro 
tection,  or  encouragement.  Even  their  New  World  destina 
tion  was  controverted  by  a  trick  of  which  they  were  ignorant. 
They  were  the  sport  of  circumstance. 

Discounting  the  Weston  settlement  at  Wessagusset 
(1623-24) ;  passing  over  the  coming  of  Captain  Wollaston  to 
Merry  Mount,  now  Quincy,  the  resort  of  that  "Lord  of  Mis 
rule,"  Tom  Morton  (1625) ;  the  Puritan  regime  begins  with 
the  coming  of  John  Endicott  to  Salem  (1629).  Governor 
John  Winthrop  came  over  the  next  year,  at  which  time 
William  Blackstone  lived  a  hermit  life  on  the  west  slope 
of  Beacon  Hill,  while  Thomas  Walford  was  at  Mishawam 
(Charlestown) .  Samuel  Mavericke  was  at  East  Boston.  All 
these  settlers,  from  Wessagusset  to  Salem,  were  known  as  "the 
planters."  This  was  the  soil  in  which  Governor  Winthrop 
was  to  sow  the  seed  of  Puritanism,  the  embryo  of  an  ultra- 
religious  and  political  commonwealth. 

[22] 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  INDIAN  TRIBES 

so  was  his  environment.  It  was,  as  well,  singularly 
deficient,  finding  expression  in  unintelligible  gut 
turals  and  grunts.  While  his  ear  was  touched  with 
solace  of  tuneful  notes, —  harmonious  sounds  such 
as  make  up  a  strain  of  music, —  his  own  song  was 
no  more  than  a  monody,  a  succession  of  notes 
strung  upon  a  single  line,  to  make  up  a  series  of 
wild  chromatics  as  colorless  as  the  air  that  bore 
them  upon  the  hearing  of  others.  To  him  the 
essence  of  music  was  vociferation,  punctuated  by 
unearthly  yells  and  wild  whoops.  Of  melody  and 
rhythm,  unless  indicated  by  the  genuflexions  of 
their  bodies  as  they  swayed  to  and  fro  in  their  burial 
ceremonies,  interpolated  with  chants  pitched  in  low, 
weird  key  or  shrilling  with  wild  despair,  they  knew 
nothing  except,  perhaps,  in  its  most  rudimentary 
character. 

They  had  no  literature, —  no  arbitrary  signs 
which  in  combination  might  be  interpreted  into 
cogent  meaning, —  only  such  rude  hieroglyphics  as 
they  were  wont  to  inscribe  on  the  bark  of  the 
birch,  or  the  skins  of  animals  taken  in  the  chase, — 
figures  of  beasts  and  birds  and  of  their  own  kind 
traced  with  a  bit  of  charcoal,  a  symbolical  writing 
which  they  understood,  a  rude  scrawl  in  panto 
mime.1  They  were  picture- writers  and,  to  a  limited 

1  It  is  recorded,  after  the  first  foray  by  the  English  upon 
the  Norridgewocks  where  the  Jesuit  Rale  had  his  little  chapel, 
an  Indian  paddling  down  the  Kennebec  in  his  canoe  came 

[23] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

degree,  they  understood  the  use  of  the  ocherous 
earths  and  the  juices  of  certain  plants  and  tree- 
rinds  which  yielded  them  brilliant  pigments  and 
dyes.  They  were  exceedingly  fond  of  bright 
colors.  The  Indian's  eyes,  his  ears,  and  even  his 
finger-tips  were  unerring  interpreters.  By  day  or 
night  he  traversed  the  forest  with  sure  footsteps. 
The  stars  were  his  compass;  and  when  the  stars 
were  obscured  he  read  the  bark  of  the  trees  with  a 
glancing  touch.  The  leaves  at  his  feet  betrayed  the 
stranger  who  had  trespassed  upon  his  domain,  and 
with  a  nose  as  keen  as  that  of  a  fox  he  scented 
danger  at  a  far  distance.  His  nerves  of  hearing 
were  as  delicately  adjusted  as  the  finest  con 
structed  seismograph.  As  if  nature  had  taken  him 
under  her  special  protection,  she  had  endowed  him 
with  the  keenest  of  outward  sensibilities,  as  she 
had  the  deer,  and  the  animals  who  preyed  upon  it. 
The  Indian  was  limited  even  in  his  traditions, 
all  of  which  were  supernaturally  improbable.  His 
traditions  of  the  origin  of  his  race  suggest  the 

upon  a  bit  of  birch  bark  upon  which  was  pictured  the  death 
of  the  priest.  Rale  was  supposed  to  have  been  killed  in  the 
attack  on  the  Norridgewock  village,  but,  singularly  enough, 
got  away.  The  picture-writing  was  a  news-bulletin;  but  in 
this  case  it  proved  a  canard.  It  remained  for  Lieutenant 
Jacques,  in  the  Moulton  raid,  to  send  the  bullet  home  to  the 
heart  of  Rale,  considered  by  the  English  to  be  the  arch- 
conspirator  and  instigator  of  the  fiendish  butcheries  perpe 
trated  by  his  savage  followers. 

[24] 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  INDIAN  TRIBES 

Darwinian  theory, —  that  it  was  evolved  from  the 
animal  kingdom.  Some  singular  traditions  pre 
vailed  among  the  Abenake,  which  were  handed 
down  from  father  to  son,  after  the  fashion  of  the 
Sagas  of  the  Norsemen.1 

1  The  Rev.  Mr.  Heckwelder,  whom  Baylie,  in  his  History 
of  New  Plymouth,  alludes  to  as  a  "modern  missionary,"  re 
lates  an  interesting  tradition  concerning  the  origin  of  the 
Indians  of  the  north  Atlantic  coast,  including  the  tribes 
along  the  St.  Lawrence.  The  tradition  had  its  origin  among 
the  Delawares  (Leni  Lenape),  and  is  certainly  plausible;  and 
while  the  author  does  not  follow  Heckwelder  literally,  the 
relation  here  given,  while  considerably  abbreviated,  is  close 
enough. 

The  story  is,  the  Leni  Lenape  nation  came  from  the  west 
beyond  the  Na-me-esi-Sipu  [Mississippi].  Crossing  the 
Great  River,  they  came  to  the  country  of  the  Alligwe,  from 
which  nation  we  have  the  word  "Alleghany."  On  their  way, 
however,  to  the  Great  River  they  fell  in  with  the  Mengwe 
[Iroquois],  who,  like  themselves,  were  migrating  to  the  east 
ward  to  find  a  land  that  suited  them.  Crossing  the  Missis 
sippi,  they  were  confronted  by  the  Alligwe,  a  gigantic  race  who 
understood  the  arts  of  war  and  who  had  regularly  constructed 
fortifications.  The  Leni  Lenape  wished  to  settle  in  their 
domain;  but  when  the  Alligwe  saw  the  great  numbers  of  the 
Leni  Lenape  they  attacked  the  latter  with  an  intent  to  destroy 
them,  so  fearful  were  they  of  being  absorbed  by  this  strange 
people. 

The  Mengwe,  who  had  been  passive  spectators  of  this 
hostile  interference,  offered  to  join  forces  with  the  Leni 
Lenape  and  compel  a  passage  of  the  Alligwe  country  if,  after 
conquering  the  country,  they  should  be  allowed  to  share  it 
with  the  Leni  Lenape  equally,  to  which  the  latter  at  once 

[25] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

As  to  the  arts,  they  were  primarily  workers  in 
stone,  as  their  implements  readily  indicate.  At 
Sabino,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sagadahoc  River,  are 
indications  that  there  was  once  at  that  place  a 
primitive  factory  where  were  fashioned  stone  axes, 

agreed.  They  immediately  attacked  the  Alligwe  with  their 
combined  forces,  and,  after  many  years  of  warfare,  overcame 
them  and  compelled  them  to  flee  across  the  Great  River  into 
the  further  west.  The  conquerors  divided  the  country,  the 
Mengwe  choosing  the  region  about  the  Great  Lakes  and 
their  tributary  waters,  while  the  Leni  Lenape  occupied  the 
lands  further  south.  Being  at  peace  with  each  other,  these 
two  nations  increased  with  great  rapidity.  Another  migra 
tion  then  took  place,  the  more  adventurous  Lenape  crossing 
the  Alleghanies  to  follow  the  Susquehannah  to  the  great  bay 
of  the  Chesapeake,  keeping  on  to  the  Delaware  River,  still 
exploring  eastward  through  the  Schegichbi  [New  Jersey] 
country,  until  they  came  to  the  Hudson  River.  They  found 
these  countries  uninhabited.  Returning  home  with  the  news, 
the  Leni  Lenape  migration  began  in  greater  force,  and  settle 
ments  were  made  on  all  four  of  the  great  rivers, —  the  Dela 
ware,  Potomac,  Hudson,  and  Susquehannah.  The  Delaware 
country  was  the  center  of  their  possessions;  but  more  than 
half  the  Leni  Lenape  pushed  still  further  east  to  settle  on  the 
Atlantic.  They  became  the  three  great  tribes  of  The  Wolf, 
The  Turkey,  and  The  Turtle.  The  latter  called  themselves 
the  Unamis.  The  Turkey  took  the  tribal  name  of  Unalatchgo. 
As  their  tribes  multiplied,  they  extended  out  beyond  the  River 
of  the  Mohicans  [the  Hudson],  the  Wolf  totem  belonging  to 
the  Minci  [Monseys].  Their  council-fire  was  at  Minisink. 

From  these  and  the  body  of  the  Delawares  sprung  other 
tribes,  grandchildren  of  the  parent  nation.  These,  choosing 
to  live  by  themselves,  spread  over  that  part  of  the  country 

[26] 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  INDIAN  TRIBES 

and  gouges  with  which  they  hollowed  out  portions 
of  trees,  which  were  shaped  into  the  rude  vessels 
that  answered  to  their  necessities.  Quantities  of 
stone  relics  have  been  found  at  that  place,  and 
not  far  away  are  the  shell-heaps  of  Damariscotta, 


known  as  the  Eastern  States.  As  the  years  went  on,  new 
families  were  generated,  until  the  whole  Atlantic  country  was 
peopled  by  the  descendants  of  the  original  Leni  Lenape. 

During  this  time  the  Mengwe  had  increased  until  they 
had  filled  up  the  country  about  the  Great  Lakes  and  had 
extended  their  habitations  along  the  St.  Lawrence  until  they 
again  came  in  contact  with  their  old  allies,  the  Leni  Lenape, 
through  their  descendants,  which  became  a  cause  of  hostility. 
The  trouble  terminated,  the  Mengwe  nation  established  its 
superiority  over  the  Leni  Lenape  and  became  known  as 
"The  Five  Nations." 

This  tradition  is  contracted  from  Baylie's  direct  quotation 
of  Heckwelder,  who  is  regarded  by  him  as  somewhat  credu 
lous  and  liable  to  be  imposed  upon  by  Indian  narrators. 
Nothing  is  imputed  to  Heckwelder,  if  he  gave  the  tradition 
as  he  received  it.  In  matters  of  tradition  it  is  difficult  to  trace 
the  origin;  but  Heckwelder  offers  this  particular  narration 
as  a  certain  indication  of  the  common  origin  of  the  Atlantic 
tribes  of  New  England  extending  southward  to  Virginia. 
Heckwelder's  contention  —  or  assumption  —  has  some  sup 
port  from  the  notable  similarity  of  their  dialects  with  that  of 
the  Delawares;  also  the  radical  difference  which  was  apparent 
between  the  languages  of  the  Delawares  and  the  Iroquois. 

Baylie's  History  of  the  Pilgrims,  p.  33. 

It  strikes  the  author  of  this  work  that  the  question  of  the 
initial  race  from  whence  sprung  the  Indians  of  North  America 
is  yet  open  to  debate. 

[27] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

which  have  given  rise  to  much  discussion  as  to  their 
origin,  so  extensive  are  these  deposits. 

They  were  superstitious,  believing  in  dreams 
like  the  ancients  of  the  days  of  Nebuchadnezzar, 
and  as  well  in  incantations.  Every  tribe  had  its 
medicine-man,  who  was  consulted  upon  important 
occasions.  Their  worship  wras  crude  and  unintel 
ligible,  except  that  they  acknowledged  the  power 
of  a  good  spirit,  whom  they  addressed  as  their 
"Manitou,"  as  well  as  that  of  another,  an  evil 
spirit,  who  inhabited  the  air  about  them  —  an  in 
visible  atom  of  malevolence  whom  they  were  al 
ways  endeavoring  to  appease  through  their  medi 
cine-man.  This  spirit  was  the  instigator  of  every 
thing  that  was  bad,  and  to  it  were  ascribed  all  their 
misfortunes  in  war  and  of  the  chase.  They  seemed 
to  have  no  comprehension  of  the  human  agency  by 
which  communities  guide  their  affairs.  The  be 
nignity  of  the  Manitou  was  their  constant  solicitude. 
When  things  went  wrong  with  them  Manitou  was 
asleep,  or  on  the  chase  somewhere  in  the  Happy 
Hunting-grounds  of  the  Indian's  Hereafter. 

They  had  no  permanent  living-place;  no  home. 
Their  perpetuation  of  the  memory  of  their  dead 
was  by  heaping  up  an  occasional  tumulus  of  dirt. 
They  erected  no  monuments,  unless  one  instance 
may  be  mentioned  as  existing  on  the  eastern  bank 
of  Taunton  River.1  There  has  recently  been  dis- 

1  This  stone  is  known  as  Dighton  Rock.    Upon  it  is  traced  a 

[28] 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  INDIAN  TRIBES 

covered  in  the  bed  of  a  stream  in  the  town  of  Solon, 
Me.,  a  shelving  ledge,  for  the  great  part  of  the 
time  under  water,  upon  which  are  some  curious 
rock-tracings.  Like  those  on  Dighton  Rock,  they 
are  uninterpre table.  Other  stones  of  a  similar 
character  are  to  be  seen  elsewhere  about  New  Eng 
land  —  notably,  a  boulder  at  Damariscotta,  and 
as  well,  at  Manana,  a  bit  of  rock  in  the  sea  adjacent 
to  Monhegan.  In  their  writing,  arrow-heads, 

multitude  of  strange  hieroglyphics  to  which,  as  yet,  no  key 
has  been  discovered.  The  tracings  are  evidently  a  work  of 
regular  design.  It  has  become  famous  by  reason  of  its  pro 
jection  into  the  controversy  of  the  Norse  Occupation  and  the 
discovery  of  the  coast  of  New  England  by  Leif,  the  son  of 
Erik  the  Red.  Bjarne,  son  of  Herjulf,  had  been  driven  by 
adverse  winds  south  of  Greenland,  by  reason  of  which  he 
came  upon  a  strange  country  at  three  separate  times  before 
he  was  able  to  head  his  ship  back  to  Iceland.  This  was  about 
the  year  990.  Following  Bjarne,  Leif  headed  his  ship  toward 
Greenland  and  then  sailed  south  until  he  came  to  a  pleasant 
country  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Leifsbudir,  afterward 
called  Vinland,  by  reason  of  the  grapes  which  grew  there  in 
abundance.  In  1002  Thorvald,  a  brother  of  Leif,  came 
hither.  About  1008  Thorfinn  Karlsefne  came  over  with 
three  vessels.  He  had  with  him  one  hundred  and  sixty  per 
sons.  His  object  was  to  establish  a  colony  at  Vinland.  Three 
years  later  the  settlement  was  abandoned.  Other  and  later 
voyages  took  place,  but  they  are  all  the  subject  of  oral  tradi 
tion.  Professor  Rafn  essayed  to  interpret  the  mystery  of 
Dighton  Rock.  He  accepts  the  inscription  as  undoubtedly  of 
Norse  origin.  Other  scholars  have  agreed  with  him.  Mr. 
George  Bancroft  styles  the  Sagas,  which  were  first  printed 

[29] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

flints,  and  charred  coals  were  used  by  these  un 
tutored  sons  of  the  wilderness.  The  thin  rind  of 
the  birch  was  the  Indian's  letter-paper.  Upon  it 
were  transcribed  the  symbols  within  which  the 
meaning  of  their  messages  was  concealed,  a  veri 
table  cipher  to  the  uninitiate.  Between  the  various 
tribes  the  means  of  conveyance  of  these  messages 
was  by  a  runner,  a  young  Indian  whose  wind  and 
sinew  were  equal  to  the  arduous  strain  of  a  journey 
of  days  and  nights  through  the  pathless  forest,  pos 
sibly;  though  from  east  to  west  and  to  the  south 
ward  along  the  coast  were  well-worn  trails  which 
might  be  termed  primitive  highways.  It  was  by 
these  bits  of  bark  and  the  pictures  on  them  that 
they  convened  their  council-fires,  where,  with  much 
silence,  amid  the  wreathings  of  fragrant  tobacco- 

in  1837,  "mythological  in  form  and  obscure  in  meaning." 
The  Danish  antiquaries  accept  them  as  legitimate.  The  rock 
is  located  some  seven  miles  from  Taunton,  in  Asson-neck, 
now  the  town  of  Berkely.  It  is,  at  low-water  line,  some  nine 
or  ten  feet  across  at  its  base;  it  is  about  four  feet  high,  of 
smooth  face  which  slopes  to  the  water. 

It  was  discovered  by  the  English  in  the  days  of  Cotton 
Mather,  whose  description  of  it  was  published  in  the  transac 
tions  of  the  Royal  Society.  It  has  been  a  Chinese  puzzle  to  the 
antiquarian.  It  is  evidently  of  an  origin  utterly  without  the 
scope  of  the  Indian  of  North  America.  It  has  given  rise  to 
the  most  singular  vagaries,  and  by  some  has  been  ascribed  to 
the  Phoenician  navigators.  Whatever  it  may  stand  for  as  a 
vestige  of  a  once  existing  race,  its  antiquity  is  more  remote,, 
possibly,  than  as  yet  has  been  accorded  it. 

[30] 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  INDIAN  TRIBES 

smoke,  they  reached  the  ultimatum  of  their  de 
bate. 

While  it  has  been  asserted  that  the  savage  had 
no  literature,  it  is  true  that  in  the  wigwams  of  the 
Abenake  were  not  infrequently  found  collections 
of  hieroglyphic  writings,  if  they  might  be  so  classed, 
which  consisted  of  bits  of  bark,  stones,  and  other 
object-records.  Their  medicine-men  had  scrolls  of 
bark  upon  which  were  singularly  uncouth  tracings 
of  incantations  which  they  were  wont  to  read  to  the 
sick.  The  Micmacs  were  adepts  in  the  art  of  pic 
ture-painting;  and  while  the  Abenake  may  not 
have  practised  it  to  so  great  an  extent,  it  was  some 
thing  they  were  wont  to  use  not  infrequently  to  con 
vey  information  to  others.  It  was  a  picture- vocab 
ulary,  some  specimens  of  which  are  preserved 
among  the  writings  left  by  Father  Rale.  It  was  as 
if  the  understanding  was  to  be  appealed  to  through 
the  vision. 

The  moon  was  the  Indian  calendar.  It  was  a 
weather  prognosticator.  A  watery  moon  foretold 
snow  or  wet;  a  reddish  one  indicated  high  winds. 
It  was  prophetic  of  cold,  when  the  rivers  would  be 
covered  with  ice  and  the  snow  would  be  deep  in 
the  woods.  It  foretold  as  well  the  bursting  of  the 
spring  buds.  The  simples  that  grew  in  the  woods 
were  the  source  from  which  their  pharmacy  was 
supplied.  There  was  healing  in  the  trees,  as  the 
scurvy-stricken  followers  of  Jacques  Cartier,  much 
to  their  relief,  found  at  Stadacone,  a  little  palisado 

[31] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

on  the  banks  of  the  St.  Charles,  where  he  wintered 
in  1535,  the  prey  to  inaction  and  the  rigorous 
climate  of  a  Canadian  winter,  amid  a  savage  and 
inhospitable  people.1 

The  Indian,  half  animal  himself,  knew  the 
language  of  the  wild  creatures  of  the  wilderness 
woods,  many  of  which  they  adopted  as  the  totems 
of  their  tribes,  and  as  well  revered  for  the  benefits 
derived  from  them  in  food  and  clothing.  They 
talked  with  the  moose  through  the  hollows  of  their 
hands,  with  the  owl  and  the  crow.  The  beaver 
taught  them  the  lesson  of  industry  at  their  very 
wigwam  doors.  They  spun  their  thread  from  the 
roots  of  the  spruce;  the  rushes  of  the  swamps  gave 
them  their  mats;  the  hide  of  the  deer,  their  bow 
strings.  They  thatched  the  roofs  of  their  huts  and 
fashioned  their  canoes  from  the  bark  of  the  birch, 
the  elm,  or  the  oak.  Nature  was  their  literature, 
unabridged  and  unexpurgated.  The  summer  days 

1  Parkman,  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  World,  p.  217. 

Cartier  had  made  his  second  voyage  to  the  St.  Lawrence 
(1535) .  He  wintered  at  Stadacone.  With  the  opening  of  the 
next  year,  1536,  a  malignant  scurvy  afflicted  his  little  com 
pany  of  adventurers.  Twenty-five  died,  leaving  less  than  a 
half-dozen  to  care  for  the  sick.  The  prospect  was  annihila 
tion  for  the  entire  party.  Cartier  met  a  savage  who  had  not 
long  before  been  prostrated  with  the  scurvy,  but  who  appeared 
to  be  in  perfect  health.  Questioning  him  as  to  what  had 
brought  about  this  miraculous  healing,  the  latter  told  him  of 
a  certain  evergreen,  the  "ameda,"  a  brew  of  the  leaves  of 
which  was  most  efficacious.  Cartier,  obtaining  the  simple, 

[32] 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  INDIAN  TRIBES 

were  their  paradise,  while  the  winter,  with  its  snow- 
smothered  silences,  was  a  period  of  hibernation, 
when  to  eat  and  sleep  was  their  single  solace. 
Inured  to  exposure,  often  on  the  verge  of  famine, 
the  Indian  was  a  stoic  of  the  extreme  type.  His 
philosophy  was  that  of  endurance  at  the  expense 
of  all  fancy  or  imagination,  in  the  creative  sense. 
Child-like,  yet  subtle;  hospitable,  yet  treacherous; 
forbearing,  yet  revengeful;  loyal,  yet  impression 
able,  he  was  as  fickle  as  the  winds.  To  his  friends, 
his  heart  was  in  his  hand.  To  his  enemy,  he  was 
the  quintessence  of  all  that  was  crafty,  cruel,  and 
vindictive. 

If  the  Indian  was  anything,  in  matter  of  degree 
he  might  be  classed  among  the  mystics.  Whatever 
was  beyond  his  immediate  comprehension  became 
at  once  a  source  of  either  fear  or  admiration.  More 
an  impressionist  than  either  analyst  or  logician,  to 
him  the  mystery  of  the  Jesuit  ritual  was  like  mist 
upon  the  waters.  It  was  a  visual  perception  rather 
than  a  revelation.  It  remained  for  Eliot  to  locate 
the  spiritual  pulse  of  the  savage. 

A  creature  of  perfect  vitality  and  of  equally  fine 
nervous  organism,  he  was  apparently  insensible  to 
exposure  to  the  elements1  or  to  the  pain  inflicted 

made  a  brew  of  which  his  men  drank  freely,  so  that  in  six 
days  all  were  on  the  road  to  health. 

Parkman  says,  "The  wonderful  tree  seems  to  have  been  a 
spruce,  or,  more  probably,  an  arbor- vitse." 

1  It  was  on  March  16,  1621,  that  Samoset  made  his  appear- 

[33] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

by  his  enemies.  His  accuracy  of  ear,  of  scent,  of 
touch,  was  a  part  of  nature's  phenomena.  Wild, 
uncouth,  he  was  one  of  nature's  mosaics,  as  were 
the  wild  things  that  dropped  to  his  unerring  arrow. 
As  a  type,  to  the  European  he  was  an  exceptional, 
original,  unexpurgated.  As  a  human  problem,  he 
was  wholly  unreducible.  His  acquaintance  with 
civilization  was  the  first  step  toward  his  utter  ex 
tinction  as  a  race.  Once  inoculated  with  the  poison 
in  the  white  man's  cup,  his  moral  and  physical 
deterioration  was  like  that  of  a  forest  tree  stricken 
with  an  irreparable  decay. 

Apparently  the  Indians  of  southern  New  Eng 
land  were  of  a  higher  intellectual  order,  possibly  by 
reason  of  their  living  in  larger  communities  and 
because  their  trade  in  wampum  brought  them  in 
contact  with  the  tribes  still  further  south.  The  two 
great  tribes  of  that  part  of  New  England  which 
bordered  on  Long  Island  Sound  were  the  Pequots 
and  the  Narragansetts.  While  the  latter  sustained 
traditions  of  singular  interest,  the  savages  along 
the  coast  bordering  on  the  Gulf  of  Maine  were 
more  rude  in  their  habits  and  customs  than  either 

ance  at  Plymouth.  Mourt  says  he  was  naked,  with  "only  a 
leather  girdle  about  his  waist,  with  a  fringe  about  a  span 
long."  Drake  makes  mention  that  it  was  very  cold  weather; 
and  Mourt  adds,  "We  cast  a  horseman's  coat  about  him." 
Samoset  remained  at  Plymouth  five  days.  When  he  went 
away,  Mourt  says,  "We  gave  him  a  hat,  a  pair  of  stockings 
and  shoes,  a  shirt,  and  a  piece  of  cloth  to  tie  about  his  waist." 

[34] 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  INDIAN  TRIBES 

the  Dela wares  or  the  Iroquois.  These  two  great 
Indian  powers  were  located  south  of  the  Hudson. 
The  Pequots  and  Narragansetts  were  both  notable 
tribes.  They  were  the  mint-masters  —  the  makers 
of  wampum  for  their  savage  neighbors.1  As  manu 
facturers  of  wampum  (and  they  were  adepts  in  the 
art),  these  two  tribes  became  wealthy  and  influen 
tial.  At  the  time  of  the  coming  of  the  Plymouth 
settlers  they  were  at  the  zenith  of  their  power. 
Traders  in  a  commodity  over  which  they  exer 
cised  a  monopoly,  they  acquired  an  ascendency  in 
the  councils  of  the  Indians  to  the  eastward  which 
ceased  only  with  their  practical  extinction. 

Other  tribes,  whose  ingenuity  and  industry 
availed  them  little  or  nothing,  other  than  a  meager 
subsistence  gained  from  the  chase,  or  the  cultiva 
tion  of  the  open  places  in  the  wilderness  which 
they  made  their  habitat,  were  undergoing  uncon 
sciously  the  inevitable  decay  common  to  lack  of 


1  Wampum,  or  wampumpeag,  was  made  from  the  shell  of 
the  "quahag,"  one  of  the  largest  of  the  clam  species.  These 
shells  were  susceptible  of  a  high  polish,  and  were  colored. 
They  were  attached,  in  varicolored  patterns  of  unique  and 
curious  design,  to  strips  of  cloth  originally  woven  of  fine  roots, 
or  a  vegetable  fiber  which  resembled  cotton,  and  later  to 
strips  of  cloth  obtained  from  the  English.  Those  of  a  bluish 
tint  were  most  esteemed.  Among  the  savages,  wampum  was 
used  in  the  place  of  precious  metals,  of  which  they  seemed  to 
have  little  or  no  knowledge,  but  which  were  not  uncommon 
among  the  tribes  further  to  the  south  or  west. 

[35] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

stimulus  to  the  attainment  of  larger  creature  com 
forts  and  the  seeking  out  of  new  gratifications. 
The  savage  of  the  northern  New  England  coast 
was,  while  of  a  magnificent  physique,  in  all  his 
tendencies  animalistic;  his  natural  desire  was 
solely  the  satisfying  of  his  stomach  and  the  sus 
taining  of  his  energies  by  the  slothfulness  of  sleep. 
On  the  opposite,  his  acquired  tastes  were  but  a  few 
steps  from  actual  debauchery.  He  was  akin  to  the 
dweller  in  the  hollows  of  trees,  the  damp  recesses 
of  rock-shadowed  caves:  a  half-naked  solitary,  as 
it  were,  nomad  in  all  his  instincts,  obtaining  by 
violence  what  could  not  otherwise  be  had  peace 
ably;  an  individual  apart  from  the  other  world 
races.  Singular  as  it  may  seem,  crediting  the  Indian 
with  these  untoward  characteristics,  he  was  still 
most  kindly  and  generous  in  his  hospitality,1 

1  After  the  first  winter  at  Plymouth,  with  the  coming  of 
the  warm  weather  the  neighboring  Indians  began  to  frequent 
the  seashore  for  lobsters  and  fish.  While  they  were  in  the 
way  of  becoming  an  annoyance  to  the  settlers  (for  the  savages 
were  apt  to  go  wherever  they  could  get  anything  to  eat),  the 
settlers  treating  them  with  kindness,  they  hung  around  the 
settlement  until  it  was  decided  to  send  an  embassy  to  Massa- 
soit  with  a  request  that  he  prohibit  the  continuance  of  this 
drain  upon  their  slender  resources.  Stephen  Hopkins  and 
Edward  Winslow  were  appointed  ambassadors.  Squanto, 
who  had  long  before  been  kidnapped  by  Hunt  and  sold  as  a 
slave  in  Spain, —  to  be  afterward  released  and  sent  to  Eng 
land,  whence  he  was  returned  home, —  went  along  as  inter 
preter.  Their  gifts  to  Massasoit  were  a  red  coat  and  a  copper 

[36] 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  INDIAN  TRIBES 

sharing  his  last  morsel  with  an  accepted  guest,  or 
even  a  stranger;  giving  up  his  couch  of  skins  and 
even  his  wigwam  to  those  whom  chance  or  purpose 
had  thrown  in  his  way. 

Contemptuous  of  labor,  that  was  for  the  squaw, 
for  whom  they  had  an  even  deeper  contempt.  To 
call  an  enemy  a  woman  was  a  species  of  contumely 
unequalled  by  any  other  epithet  in  their  limited 
vocabulary.  In  conflict  they  were  ferocious,  subtle, 
and  treacherous,  seeking  the  cover  of  fences  and 
trees,  and  rarely  ever  showing  themselves  in  the 

chain.  When  Massasoit  was  arrayed  in  his  red  coat  Hopkins 
and  Winslow  delivered  their  message,  which  was  that  they 
wished  to  pay  for  the  kettle  and  the  corn  they  had  taken  in 
the  winter;  and  they  went  on  to  say  that,  as  their  crops  were 
uncertain,  and  not  having  much  other  food,  they  would  be 
unable  to  extend  to  his  people  the  same  hospitality  in  the 
future  as  they  had  in  the  past,  though  they  would  still  be 
pleased  to  do  it  if  it  were  in  their  power.  Their  request  to 
Massasoit  was  that  he  suffer  none  of  his  people  to  come  to  the 
settlement,  except  those  who  had  skins  to  trade.  If,  however, 
he  wished  to  come  himself,  or  have  some  particular  friend, 
they  would  be  glad  to  entertain  them  as  heretofore.  That 
they  might  not  be  imposed  upon,  they  suggested  that  he  send 
the  copper  chain  with  his  friend  or  messenger  as  the  credential 
of  representation.  After  the  business  of  the  meeting  was  over 
pipes  and  tobacco  were  brought.  So  poor  was  Massasoit  that 
he  had  nothing  to  offer  them  for  supper.  His  guests  expressed 
a  desire  to  remain  over  night.  In  one  part  of  the  wigwam 
was  a  rude  bed  of  plank,  but  a  few  inches  from  the  ground, 
which  was  covered  with  a  coarse  mat.  One  end  of  this  plank 
platform  was  given  to  the  visitors,  while  the  sagamore  and 

[37] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

open,  unless  in  overpowering  numbers.  Their 
modes  of  torture  were  of  the  most  satanie  ingenuity; 
yet,  with  all  their  indifference  to  the  weaker  sex 
of  their  tribes,  their  respect  for  the  chastity  of  their 
women  was  inviolable.  Friend  or  foe,  they  never 
forgot  a  benefit  or  forgave  an  injury.1  j 

The  Indian  has  been  described  as  of  tall,  angular, 
and  generally  stalwart  physique;  but  in  that  re 
spect  he  was  subject  to  the  same  variations  in 
stature  as  other  races.  An  acquaintance  with  the 
western  Indians  of  to-day  bears  out  the  assumption. 

his  wife  slept  at  the  other  end.  Two  other  Indians  were  to 
be  accommodated,  who,  during  the  night,  so  crowded  the 
Englishmen  that  they  got  but  little  sleep,  and  so  were  more 
weary  in  the  morning  than  when  they  lay  down.  For  break 
fast  they  had  two  large  fish  which  Massasoit  had  secured 
with  his  arrows  in  the  early  morning.  This  was  the  first  food 
the  ambassadors  had  eaten  for  a  day  and  two  nights.  Kindli 
ness  was  in  Massasoit's  heart,  but  his  larder  was  not  stocked 
with  abundance.  Massasoit  told  them  he  was  sorry  he 
could  not  give  them  better  entertainment. 

Banvard,  Plymouth  and  the  Pilgrims,  p.  54. 

1  The  Nausets  never  forgave  the  English  for  the  dastardly 
act  of  Hunt  in  kidnapping  a  considerable  number  of  that 
tribe,  whom  he  had  decoyed  aboard  his  vessel  and  carried 
to  Spain,  where  they  were  sold  as  slaves.  John  Billington,  a 
"  vicious  lad  and  a  great  plague  to  the  colony,"  strayed  away. 
A  party  was  sent  out  after  him.  The  searching-party  spent 
the  night  at  Cummaquid  [Barnstable  Harbor],  at  which 
place  they  met  a  squaw  who  was  then  reputed  to  be  a  hun 
dred  years  of  age.  When  she  saw  the  Englishmen  she  be 
came  greatly  excited,  weeping  "excessively."  Asking  her 

[38] 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  INDIAN  TRIBES 

In  peace  and  plenty  his  physiognomy  was  calmly 
mild,  if  not  pleasantly  suggestive.  In  anger  or  un 
rest  his  features  were  as  shifty  as  the  sea  in  a 
whipping  gale.  As  an  expression  of  savagery,  they 
were  demoniac.  They  were  at  once  brave,  timid, 
detesting  falsehood  in  others,  and  again  courting 
it;  haughty  and  insolent  with  those  of  inferior  rank 
or  power,  they  were  most  humbly  docile  in  the 
presence  of  their  superiors  in  strength  and  influ 
ence.  The  mood  of  the  savage  was  kaleidoscopic. 
It  varied,  like  that  of  a  child,  with  every  circum 
stance.  What  he  might  have  become  had  the  New 
World  remained  a  sealed  book  to  the  Old  is  prob 
lematical.  The  inference  is  that  in  the  long  years 

what  so  affected  her,  she  replied  that  when  Captain  Hunt 
was  at  that  place  she  had  three  sons  who  went  aboard  his 
vessel  to  trade,  and  he  had  carried  them  away  captive  to 
Spain.  The  Nausets,  who  were  settled  at  what  is  now  East- 
ham,  were  never  fully  gained  over  to  the  English  interest, 
such  was  their  deep  and  abiding  hatred  of  the  white  race. 
They  never  forgot  or  forgave  Hunt,  or  his  people.  This  un 
fortunate  event  occurred  in  1614,  or  six  years  before  the  com 
ing  of  the  Mayflower. 

Banvard,  Plymouth  and  the  Pilgrims,  p.  57. 

It  was  at  this  place  the  English  were  attacked  upon  their 
second  venturing  from  the  Mayflower,  when  they  went  to 
spy  out  the  land  (Dec.  6,  1620).  It  is  worthy  of  note  that 
their  first  reception  at  the  hands  of  the  natives  was  one  of 
hostility  (Drake's  Indian  Wars,  p.  11).  At  their  first  landing 
the  natives  ran  away.  Their  traditions  of  the  white  men 
were  not  reassuring. 

[39] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

to  be  unfolded  they  might  have  evolved  into  traders 
and  explorers,  and  have  taken  the  initial  step,  as 
have  some  of  the  races  of  the  Orient,  toward  a  more 
complete  civilization.  They  might,  on  the  other 
hand,  have  fallen  a  prey  to  the  natural  decadence 
incident  to  a  people  without  cohesion  or  high  moral 
purpose,  of  which  they  had  neither. 

Their  mode  of  living  was  of  the  rudest  sort. 
Through  the  secret  recesses  of  the  wilderness  were 
the  scattered  villages  of  the  different  tribes.  In 
New  England  they  were  to  be  found  bordering  on 
the  shores  of  the  ocean  where  fish  were  to  be  readily 
taken,  and  in  the  middle  country,  about  the  Great 
Lakes  or  along  the  rivers  which  led  from  them  out 
ward  to  the  sea.  The  squaws  were  the  tillers  of  the 
soil,  accomplishing  what  they  could  with  their 
rude  implements  of  stone  or  wood;  while  the  men, 
with  their  bows,  their  arrows  flint-headed  or  tipped 
with  the  claws  of  the  eagle,  and  their  axes  of  stone 
curiously  sharpened,  were  off  on  the  chase  or  en 
gaged  in  an  occasional  foray  against  some  aboriginal 
enemy.  After  the  war  against  King  Philip  closed 
they  were  more  gregarious  in  their  habits,  living  in 
sequestered  villages,  as  those  at  Pentagoet,  Nor- 
ridgewock,  and  Pigwacket,  from  which  places  they 
issued  under  the  direction  of  the  French  in  organ 
ized  bands  to  leave  a  trail  of  devastation  wherever 
they  passed. 

They  knew  little  or  nothing  of  metals,  although 
the  tribes  about  the  Great  Lakes,  in  what  has  now 

[40] 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  INDIAN  TRIBES 

become  the  great  copper-producing  country,  were 
reputed  to  have  utensils  of  that  metal.  Copper 
knives  have  been  found,  of  Indian  origin,  of  a 
singularly  fine  temper,  as  well  as  copper  vessels, 
artistically  fashioned,  which  were  indicative  of 
such  at  one  time  being  in  quite  common  use.  It  is 
possible  that  the  Indians  of  the  Middle  West  had 
their  knowledge  from  the  tribes  still  further  south, 
who  were  not  ignorant  of  the  ceramic  arts,  and 
whose  acquaintance  with  the  more  precious  metals 
is  well  assured. 

The  New  England  tribes  had  no  domestic  ani 
mals;  but  they  were  well  acquainted  with  the  cul 
ture  of  maize,  of  beans,  and  of  squashes  and 
"pumpions."  Tobacco  was  cultivated  among  all 
the  tribes,  even  into  western  Maine;1  but,  lazy  and 
improvident,  they  were  more  often  than  not  on  the 
verge  of  famine,  when  the  snare  and  the  arrow 
were  made  to  supply  their  slender  larder.  The 


1  The  seed  of  the  Nicotania  Rustica,  probably.  The  plant 
has  greenish  yellow  blossoms.  It  grows  wild  in  old  fields  in 
some  parts  of  the  North,  a  relic  of  cultivation  by  the  Indians. 
Roger  Williams  says:  "They  take  their  Wuttamaoug  (that 
is  a  weake  Tobacco)  which  the  men  plant  themselves,  very 
frequently;  yet  I  never  see  any  take  so  excessively  as  I  have 
seene  Men  in  Europe.  .  .  .  They  say  they  take  Tobacco  for 
two  reasons ;  against  the  rheume  which  causeth  the  toothake, 
which  they  are  impatient  of;  secondly,  to  revive  and  refresh 
them,  they  drinking  nothing  but  water." 

R.  I.  Hist.  Coll,  vol.  i.,    pp.  35,  55. 

[41] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

woods  abounded  with  deer,  and  the  streams  with 
fish.  Wild  fowl  in  large  numbers  were  to  be  found 
wherever  there  were  feeding-grounds  about  the 
inland  ponds,  except  in  the  severer  months  of  the 
winter  season,  when  everything  was  under  an  em 
bargo  of  snow  and  ice.  Amid  all  this  natural 
plenty  the  Indian  was  wont  to  feel  the  sharp  pangs 
of  hunger  as  the  price  of  his  indolence,  when  his 
only  resource  was  sleep  and  absolute  inaction. 

Whatever  there  was  of  cohesion  among  the  vari 
ous  tribes  was  the  result  of  intimidation.  They 
had  no  body  politic;  no  code  of  laws;  no  axis  about 
which  their  common  interest  might  revolve.  Each 
tribe  had  its  sachem,  who  ruled  independent  of 
outside  interference,  between  whom  and  the  medi 
cine-man  the  honors  were  about  equally  divided. 
Their  tribal  divisions  were  almost  innumerable. 
In  what  are  now  known  as  the  Provinces  the  Mic- 
macs,  who  were  a  part  of  the  great  Armouchiquois, 
had  their  roaming-grounds.  At  the  mouth  of  the 
St.  Croix  River  was  the  Passamaquoddy  tribe. 
West  and  south  along  the  coast,  up  and  down  the 
Penobscot,  were  the  Tarratines.  Westward,  half 
way  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Kennebec,  at  Nor- 
ridgewock,  was  a  branch  of  the  Sokoki.  Lower 
down  that  river  were  the  Kennebequi.  Over  on  the 
Androscoggin  was  another  contingent  known  as 
the  Androscoggins.  On  the  Presumpscot  were  the 
Ammacongins,  while  along  the  headwaters  of  the 
Saco  were  the  Pigwackets.  These  formed  the  great 

[42] 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  INDIAN  TRIBES 

Abenake  family,  the  Pigwackets  being  akin  to  the 
Norridgewocks  and  known  as  the  two  Sokoki  settle 
ments  in  Maine. 

Passing  over  the  territory  of  New  Hampshire 
into  the  Plymouth  country,  and  following  the  shore 
to  Long  Island  Sound,  one  is  in  the  land  of  the 
Pequots,  once  a  powerful  and  aggressive  people,  of 
which  Sassacus  was  the  chief  sachem.  He  had  his 
settlement  upon  a  commanding  eminence  in  what 
is  now  Groton.  His  settlement  was  enclosed  in  a 
stout  stockade;  for  he  was  most  thoroughly  hated 
and  detested  by  his  neighbors.  He  was  the  most 
powerful  sachem  of  the  surrounding  tribes,  and 
the  Pequots,  unlike  the  other  tribes,  lived  com 
pactly.  They  were  feared,  as  they  were  disliked; 
for  they  were  for  the  greater  part  of  the  time  at  war 
with  the  Narragansetts.  They  dominated  the 
Mohegans,  of  whom  they  exacted  a  tribute.  About 
the  time  of  the  coming  of  the  English,  Uncas,  who 
was  of  the  royal  family,  rebelled  against  Sassacus. 
Uncas  was  not  without  some  influence,  having  mar 
ried  a  daughter  of  Tatobam. 

The  English  came  early  in  contact  with  Sassacus 
and  his  Pequots,  who,  feeling  secure  in  their  power, 
treated  the  former  with  great  disdain  and  not  in 
frequently  with  undisguised  contempt.  Actuated 
by  his  hatred  for  Sassacus,  once  hostilities  had 
broken  out  between  the  English  and  the  Pequots, 
Uncas  immediately  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Eng 
lish,  and  a  war  ensued  that  culminated  in  the  ex- 

[43] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

tinction  of  the  Pequot  race,  the  remnant  finding  its 
way  to  the  country  of  the  Mohawks,  who,  with 
savage  philosophy,  failed  not  to  take  advantage 
of  the  opportunity  to  pay  off  old  scores,  which  they 
improved  by  severing  Sassacus's  head  from  his 
body. 

This  act  of  the  Mohawks  is  suggestive,  especially 
in  matters  of  comity  with  their  savage  neighbors. 
In  war  the  Indian  was  the  epitome  of  ferocity,  un 
relenting  in  his  cruelty.  Skulkers  ordinarily,  when 
fighting  at  bay  they  were  desperately  brave.  Vic 
torious,  they  were  drunken  with  delight,  which 
Parkman  describes  as  a  "  ferocious  ecstasy."  In 
their  torturing  of  captives  they  were  fiendish  in 
their  ingenuity.  They  burned  their  victims  at  the 
stake,  scalping  them  alive,  sticking  their  bodies 
full  of  splints  of  flaming  pitch-pine,  or  using  them 
as  living  targets  for  the  hurtling  knife  or  toma 
hawk.  They  beheaded  them  to  carry  the  heads 
home  as  trophies  to  their  squaws,  who,  with  these 
gory  evidences  of  battle  slung  about  their  necks, 
joined  in  the  dances  of  the  victors  about  the  help 
less  captive.1 

Champlain  mentions  an  instance  in  his  second 
encounter  with  the  Iroquois,  in  the  year  1610, 
which  took  place  on  the  banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Richelieu  River,  when  the 

1  Parkman,  Pioneers  of  New  France,  p.  359. 
[44] 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  INDIAN  TRIBES 

body  of  one  Iroquois  captive  was  drawn,  quar 
tered,  and  eaten  by  his  Montagnais  allies.1 

The  squaws,  and  even  the  children  —  boys  and 
girls  —  took  part  in  these  inhuman  orgies.  The 
Abenake  were  not  unlike  the  more  northern 
tribes,  yet  it  is  assumed  that  with  them  burning  at 
the  stake  was  more  infrequent.  A  solitary  instance 
is  recorded  by  St.  Castin,  which  took  place  at 
Pentagoet.  Indian  or  pale-face,  however,  the 
scalp  was  taken.  Stretched  and  hung  up  to  dry 
against  the  interior  walls  of  the  wigwam,  they  were 
so  many  insignia  of  individual  prowess.  The  more 
scalps  a  savage  could  show,  the  more  weighty  his 
influence  in  the  deliberations  of  the  council-fire. 

The  victim  at  the  stake  was  challenged  to  sing 
his  death-song,  which,  while  being  a  relation  of  his 

1  Cannibalism  was  not  uncommon  among  the  North  Amer 
ican  tribes.  Parkman  is  of  the  opinion  such  was  very  rarely 
a  conspicuous  event.  He  attributes  it  to  a  spirit  of  revenge 
or  ferocity;  sometimes  to  a  religious  practice,  as  with  the 
Miamis,  among  whom  existed  a  secret  society  —  a  religious 
fraternity  of  man-eating  savages. 

To  eat  the  heart  of  an  enemy,  especially  if  he  were  brave, 
was  held  to  impart  the  same  quality  to  the  eater,  which  was 
in  a  way  a  traditional  proverb  among  the  savages.  Hunger 
among  the  rovers  of  the  winter  woods  was  appeased  by  their 
eating  of  their  own  kind  As  one  contemplates  the  ways  and 
the  manners  of  this  untutored  people,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  they  were  responsible  to  no  higher  authority  than  their 
individual  appetites  and  passions ;  that  all  their  instincts  were 
colored  by  the  atmosphere  of  their  surroundings. 

[45] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

former  victories  over  his  captors,  was  as  well  a 
diatribe  against  their  cowardice  in  war  and  their 
unimportance  as  a  people.  It  was  a  monologue  of 
taunts  and  cutting  epithets,  calculated  to  arouse 
the  fury  of  his  captors  to  the  highest  pitch,  when 
his  death-cry  was  drowned  in  a  bedlam  of  frenzy 
on  the  part  of  his  tormentors. 

Before  the  fires  were  lighted  the  captive  was 
usually  scalped,1  to  the  accompaniment  of  yells 
and  whoops  of  unrestrained  delight.  It  was  a  gala 
occasion,  in  which  all  the  pent  brutalism  of  the 
tribe  found  vent,  an  excess  of  sheer  bloodthirstiness 
which  was  kept  up  to  the  point  of  physical  ex 
haustion. 

In  the  wars  with  the  English  the  scalping-knife, 
which  was  usually  of  French  manufacture,  and  the 
tomahawk  generally  sufficed;  possibly  because, 
after  slaking  his  vengeance,  the  savage  aggressor's 


1  Note  to  Parkman's  Pioneers  of  New  France  is  here 
quoted :  "  It  has  been  erroneously  asserted  that  the  practice 
of  scalping  did  not  prevail  among  the  Indians  before  the 
advent  of  the  Europeans.  In  1535  Cartier  saw  five  scalps  at 
Quebec,  dried  and  stretched  on  hoops.  In  1564  Laudonniere 
saw  them  among  the  Indians  of  Florida.  The  Algonquins  of 
New  England  and  Nova  Scotia  were  accustomed  to  cut  off 
and  carry  away  the  head,  which  they  afterwards  scalped. 
Those  of  Canada,  it  seems,  sometimes  scalped  dead  bodies 
on  the  field.  The  Algonquin  practice  of  carrying  off  heads  as 
trophies  is  mentioned  by  Lalemant,  Roger  Williams,  Lescar- 
bot,  and  Champlain." 

[46] 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  INDIAN  TRIBES 

paramount  idea  was  to  get  away  from  the  scene  of 
his  butchery  without  detection.  The  smoke  of  the 
burning  cabin  rising  above  the  woodland  pointed 
the  savage  trail  in  the  pathless  air. 

Implacable  toward  his  foe,  his  only  approach  to 
mercy  was  to  offer  his  captive  the  gauntlet.  Women 
and  children  taken  captive  were  usually  adopted 
into  the  tribe,  especially  if  they  were  young,  comely, 
and  in  good  health.  They  had,  however,  no  use 
for  the  old,  the  sick,  or  the  frail.  A  babe  in  arms 
was  apparently  their  special  aversion. 

Running  the  gauntlet  was  an  even  greater  torture 
than  outright  death.  It  was  a  race  for  life  between 
a  double  file  of  all  the  able-bodied  members  of  the 
tribe,  as  well  as  the  squaws  and  children,  in  which 
blows  from  war-clubs,  tomahawks,  and  knives  were 
rained  down  upon  the  shoulders  and  head  of  the 
captive,  his  body  bent  to  ward  off  the  assault  and 
to  elude,  if  possible,  the  death-blow  which  awaited 
him  at  every  step.  Even  if  the  captive  escaped  into 
the  wilderness,  his  wounds  were  worse,  possibly, 
than  the  stake;  for,  weaponless  and  exhausted,  he 
was  perhaps  not  only  broken  physically,  but  face  to 
face  with  starvation  and  the  wilder  denizens  of  the 
woods,  with  only  the  sun  or  the  stars  to  guide  him 
to  safety.  Such  were  these  "peasants  and  paupers 
of  the  forest." 

The  Narragansetts  were  of  Rhode  Island.  Ca- 
nonicus  was  their  sachem,  and,  like  Massasoit  and 
Samoset,  he  was  possessed  of  a  most  noble  nature. 

[47] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

He  liked  the  English,  and  was  especially  kind  to 
Roger  Williams,  to  whom  he  was  princely  in  his 
generosity,  giving  him  the  whole  of  what  is  now 
Providence  County,  and  to  the  Hutchinson  set 
tlers  the  island  of  Rhode  Island.  His  nephew, 
Miantonomoh,  was  of  like  character  and  manly 
spirit.  Some  writers  have  endeavored  to  cast  the 
odium  of  the  savagery  that  marked  the  later  gen 
erations  of  the  Indian  upon  that  race;  but  the  Eng 
lish  were  the  original  trespassers,  beyond  cavil. 
In  those  early  days  there  were  nowhere  three 
greater  souls  than  those  of  Samoset,  Massasoit,  and 
Canonicus.  It  would  be  difficult  to  match  them 
among  the  English  whom  they  received  so  gener 
ously,  and  to  whom,  out  of  their  poverty,  they  gave 
so  much. 

On  the  eastern  edge  of  the  Narragansetts  lived 
the  Wampanoags,  whose  habitat  was  in  that  section 
now  known  as  Bristol.  Massasoit  was  of  this  tribe. 

East  and  north  of  the  Narragansetts,  as  well, 
were  the  Pokonokets.  In  fact,  that  was  the  generic 
title  by  which  all  the  cognate  Indian  tribes  about 
the  Plymouth  settlement  were  known. 

Massasoit  was  beloved  of  all  these  people,  whose 
home  was  at  Pokonoket.1 

The   son   of   Massasoit   was   Metacomet,    after 

Pokonoket,  or  Pawkunnawkut,  is  now  included  in  the 
town  of  Bristol,  R.  I.  The  English  early  gave  it  the  name  of 
Mount  Hope,  corrupted  from  the  Indian,  "Mon-taup,"  the 

[48] 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  INDIAN  TRIBES 

Massasoit's  death  better  known  as  King  Philip. 
Owing  to  the  plague  which  visited  this  nation 
shortly  before  the  coming  of  the  Plymouth  people, 
its  fighting  force  was  reduced  to  less  than  sixty 
men.  Prior  to  the  plague  the  Pokonokets  had  been 
a  powerful  nation,  boasting  some  three  thousand 
warriors,  who  were  generally  allied  to  the  Massa 
chusetts,  forming  a  combination  over  which  the 
Narragansetts  were  unable  to  prevail. 

This  plague  was  a  most  disastrous  event.  All 
the  way  from  Canada  to  Long  Island  Sound  the 
tribes  were  grievously  stricken  and  decimated. 
Had  the  plague  not  occurred  as  it  did,  the  English 
would  have  been  driven  into  the  sea.  The  forces 
which  the  French  were  able  to  call  to  their  aid 
would  have  been  increased  by  thousands,  and  the 
schemes  of  Denonville  and  Louis  xiv.  might  pos 
sibly  have  become  a  reality. 

In  the  locality  of  Plymouth  and  Bristol  the  coun 
try  was  practically  depopulated. 

Among  the  shore  tribes  were  the  Pocassetts, 
whose  habitat  was  in  the  Swanzy,  Somerset,  Reho- 
both,  and  Tiverton  district.  Corbitant  was  the 

origin  of  which  is  obscure.  It  is  a  sightly  eminence  which 
affords  a  beautiful  view  of  Providence,  Warren,  Bristol,  and 
the  surrounding  country. 

For  a  description  of  this  picturesque  locality,  see  Drake's 
Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  16;  Alden's  Coll.  Epitaphs,  vol.  iv.,  p. 
685;  Stiles,  Notes  to  Church's  History  of  King  Philip's  War, 
p.  7. 

[49] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

sachem  of  this  tribe,  and  he  was  not  over-friendly 
to  the  English.  The  unfortunate  Weetamoo  suc 
ceeded  him,  to  whom  has  been  credited  much  of 
the  incentive  that  led  Philip  to  conspire  against  the 
English,  which  the  death  of  Alexander  may  be 
said  to  have  accelerated.  The  romantic  story  of 
Weetamoo  will  preface  the  relation  of  the  causes 
that  led  up  to  the  outbreak  of  King  Philip.1 

The  Saconets  were  the  aboriginal  occupants  of 
the  neighborhood  of  Little  Compton.  In  King 
Philip's  War  they  were  governed  by  the  queen- 
sachem  Awashonks.  The  Namaskets  were  located 
in  the  vicinity  of  what  is  now  Middleborough ;  and 


1  Weetamoo  was  the  widow  of  Alexander,  and  squaw-sachem 
of  the  Pocassetts.  Alexander  was  Philip's  brother.  She  was 
drowned  in  August,  1667,  while  making  the  effort  to  escape 
from  her  pursuers  across  the  Tetticut  River  on  a  raft  of 
boughs.  Her  body  was  found  in  Mettapoisett.  Some  of  the 
settlers  cut  off  her  head  and  placed  it  upon  a  pole  in  Taunton, 
where  it  was  at  once  recognized  by  the  Indians  who  had  been 
taken  prisoners  by  the  English,  and  who  "made  a  most 
horrid  and  diabolical  lamentation,  crying  out  that  it  was  their 
queen's  head."  By  reason  of  the  death  of  Alexander,  who, 
she  believed,  had  been  poisoned  by  the  English,  she  opposed 
the  latter  bitterly.  Mather  said,  "She  was  next  to  Philip,  in 
respect  of  the  mischief  that  hath  been  done." 

As  indicative  of  the  spirit  of  the  English  about  this  time, 
Dr.  Increase  Mather  is  quoted  as  speaking  of  the  death  of 
some  of  Philip's  followers  at  Narragansett :  "We  have  heard 
of  two  and  twenty  Indian  captains  slain,  all  of  them  brought 
down  to  hell  in  one  day." 

[50] 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  INDIAN  TRIBES 

the  Nausets  at  Eastham,  on  Cape  Cod;  the  Mat- 
tachees  at  Barnstable;  the  Monomoys  at  Chatham; 
the  Saukatucketts  at  Mashpee;  and  the  Nobsquas- 
setts  at  Yarmouth. 

The  Massachusetts  were  located  about  Boston 
Bay,  and  were  once  a  great  tribe;  but  in  1630  they 
counted  hardly  a  hundred.1  The  Massachusetts 
sachem  was  chief  of  the  Wessagussets,  Pankapogs, 
Nonantums,  Nashuas,  Neponsets,  and  a  portion  of 
the  Nipmucks.  Their  territory  lapped  against  that 
of  the  Pokonoket  sachem  Massasoit  on  the  south, 
the  Nipmucks  on  the  west,  and  the  Pawtuckets  on 
the  north  and  east.  The  territory  of  the  Paw- 
tuckets  extended  from  Salem  on  the  south  to  the 
north  of  the  Merrimac  River  as  far  as  Portsmouth, 
and  to  the  Nipmucks  on  the  west,  taking  in  Essex, 
part  of  Middlesex,  and  a  part  of  New  Hampshire, 
including  the  Pennacooks,  Agawams,  Naumkeags, 
Piscataways  and  Accomintas,  the  Newicha wan- 
nocks,  and  a  few  other  minor  families.2 

The  Nipmucks  were  a  widely  scattered  people 
whose  habitat  was  to  the  westward  of  the  coast 
tribes.  They  were  usually  collected  in  families, 

1  Roger  Williams  says  that  "the  Machusetts  were  called  so 
from  the  blue  hills."    In  the  vocabulary  of  Indian  words,  by 
Rev.  John  Cotton,  the  definition  of  Massachusetts  is,  "an 
hill  in  the  form  of  an  arrow's  head."    Drake  says,  "If  any 
man  knew,  we  may  be  allowed  to  suppose  that  Roger  Williams 
did." 

2  See  Godkin. 

[51] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

being  always  exposed  to  the  danger  common  to  a 
lack  of  unity.  Baylie  is  of  opinion  that  had  the 
English  not  appeared  to  colonize  the  country  the 
Nipmuck  would  have  been  absorbed  into  the  life 
of  the  surrounding  tribes,  and  thus  would  have 
lost  identity. 

West  of  the  Hudson  were  the  Mohawks.  The 
tribes  west  of  the  Pequots  and  east  of  the  Hudson 
River  were  tributary  to  the  Mohawks.  The  Nip- 
mucks  in  the  Connecticut  country  had  been  an 
nexed  to  the  Pequots.  At  Hadley  and  Springfield 
were  two  small  tribes,  in  a  way  unimportant,  the 
sachem  of  the  Hadley  tribe  being  the  son  of  the 
Springfield  sachem.  In  the  Berkshires  the  Indians 
may  be  said  to  have  had  no  villages. 

At  Mattabesick  [Middletown]  was  the  sachem 
Sowheag.  The  Podunks  were  at  East  Hartford. 
Other  tribes  kept  to  the  shore  of  the  Sound,  like 
the  Wongungs  at  Chatham;  the  Nehanticks,  Lyme; 
the  Memunkatucks  at  Guilford;  the  Wopowags  at 
Milford;  Paugessetts  at  Derby;  and  Quinipiacks  at 
New  Haven.  Dr.  Trumbull  estimates  these  Con 
necticut  tribes  at  five  thousand,  of  which  number 
about  one  fifth  were  warriors;1  that  there  were 
altogether  in  Connecticut,  at  the  advent  of  the  Eng 
lish,  from  fifteen  thousand  to  twenty  thousand 

1  DeForest  says:  "Trumbull,  from  whom  wiser  things 
might  have  been  expected,  seems  to  have  been  actuated  by 
an  unreflecting  disposition  to  magnify  as  much  as  possible 

[52] 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  INDIAN  TRIBES 

Indians.  It  was  the  most  densely  populated  of  any 
territory  of  similar  extent  in  North  America  north 
of  Mexico. 

Along  the  Sound  was  an  abundance  of  fish;  the 
soil  was  fertile  and  responsive;  the  climate  was 
equable;  and  the  occupants  of  this  territory  were 
prosperous,  powerful,  and,  in  point  of  comparison 
with  other  tribes  to  the  eastward,  wealthy.  Out 
side  of  the  Pequots,  the  Indians  on  the  Connecticut 
River  gave  the  English  slight  trouble.  They  lived 
in  constant  fear  of  the  Mohawks  and  were  anxious 
for  the  friendship  of  the  English,  in  whom  they 
saw  their  only  hope  of  security. 

The  Mohawk  was  the  buccaneer  of  the  Hudson 
Valley.  His  normal  condition  was  to  be  mixed  up 
in  a  quarrel.  His  greatest  delight  was  to  despoil 
his  savage  neighbor.  Every  year  the  Mohawks 
made  up  several  parties  of  marauders,  who  were 
dispersed  in  different  directions  in  search  of  their 
prey.  Their  favorite  method  of  attack  was  by 

their  importance  and  numbers.  In  his  account  of  the  different 
tribes  he  usually,  if  not  invariably,  selects  the  largest  known 
estimates,  and  introduces  them  into  his  narrative  without  the 
slightest  attempt  at  reasonable  criticism." 

DeForest,  History  of  the  Indians  of  Connecticut,  p.  44. 

"We  shall  probably  make  a  liberal  estimate  when  we 
allow  twelve  hundred  warriors  for  the  whole  State,  and  six 
or  seven  thousand  individuals  for  its  entire  aboriginal 
population." 

DeForest,  History  of  the  Indians  of  Connecticut,  p.  48. 

[53] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

ambush.  In  their  forays  they  made  an  exception  of 
the  English,  whom  they  never  disturbed  or  mo 
lested,  meet  them  as  they  would,  armed  or  un 
armed;  also  of  the  "praying"  or  converted  Indians. 
They  made  war  only  upon  their  own  kind.  To 
them,  at  that  time,  the  English  bore  a  charmed 
life. 

Such  was  the  disposition  of  the  aborigines  along 
the  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Maine  and  up  the  Sound 
toward  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson  River,  at  least 
during  the  first  generation  of  the  settlements.  It 
was  with  the  tribes  south  of  the  Merrimac  the 
English  settler  had  to  deal  until  the  breaking  out  of 
St.  Castings  War  in  1690,  when,  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  isolated  attacks  south  of  the  Piscataqua 
and  in  the  direction  of  Albany,  the  theater  of  ac 
tivities  was  transferred  to  Maine.  With  the  death 
of  Philip,  and  the  subjugation  of  his  allies,  the 
settlers  of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  Rhode 
Island  lived  in  a  condition  of  comparative  safety. 

The  following  quaint  and  curious  description  of 
the  Indian,  as  the  early  colonists  about  Massachu 
setts  Bay  found  him,  was  written  by  Thomas  Lech- 
ford,  of  "  Clements  Inne,  in  the  County  of  Middle 
sex,  Gent."  Lechford  was  the  first  law-practitioner 
of  early  Boston.  He  says:  "They  [the  Indians]  are 
of  body  tall,  proper,  and  straight;  they  goe  naked, 
saving  about  their  middle,  somewhat  to  cover  their 
shame.  Seldome  they  are  abroad  in  the  extremity 
of  Winter,  but  keep  in  their  wigwams,  till  necessity 

[54] 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  INDIAN  TRIBES 

drives  them  forth;  and  then  they  wrap  themselves 
in  skins,  or  some  of  our  English  coorse  cloath :  and 
for  Winter  they  have  boots,  or  a  kind  of  laced 
tawed-leather  stockins.  They  are  naturally  proud, 
and  idle,  and  given  much  to  singing,  dancing,  and 
playes;  They  are  governed  by  Sachems y  Kings;  and 
Saggamores,  petie  Lords;  by  an  absolute  tyrranie. 
Their  women  are  of  comely  feature,  industrious, 
and  doe  most  of  the  labor  in  planting,  and  carrying 
of  burdens;  their  husbands  hold  them  in  great  sla 
very,  yet  never  knowing  other,  it  is  lesse  grievous  to 
them.  They  say  English  men  much  foole,  for  spoil 
ing  good  working  creatures,  meaning  women.  And 
when  they  see  any  of  our  English  women  sewing 
with  their  needles  or  working  coifes,  or  such  things, 
they  will  cry  out,  Lazie  squaes!  but  they  are  much 
kinder  to  their  wives  by  the  example  of  the  English. 
Their  children  they  will  not  part  with  upon  any 
terms  to  be  taught.  They  are  of  swarthy  com 
plexion  and  tawny:  their  children  are  born  white 
but  they  bedawb  them  with  oyle,  and  colours  pres 
ently.  They  have  all  black  haire,  that  I  saw. 

"In  times  of  mourning,  they  paint  their  faces 
with  black  lead,  black,  all  about  the  eye-brows,  and 
part  of  their  cheeks.  In  time  of  rejoicing  they  paint 
red,  with  a  kind  of  vermilion.  They  cut  their  haire 
of  divers  formes,  according  to  their  Nation  or  peo 
ple,  so  that  you  may  know  a  people  by  their  cut; 
and  ever  they  have  a  long  lock  on  one  side  of  their 
heads  and  weare  feathers  of  Peacocks,  and  such 

[55] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

like,  and  red  cloath,  or  ribbands  at  their  locks;  beads 
of  wampom-peag  about  their  necks,  and  a  girdle  of 
the  same,  wrought  with  blew  and  white  wampom 
after  the  manner  of  checker-work,  two  fingers 
broad  about  their  loynes :  Some  of  their  chief e  men 
goe  so,  and  pendants  of  wampom,  and  such  toyes  in 
their  ears.  And  the  women,  some  of  the  chiefe, 
have  faire  bracelets,  and  chaines  of  wampom.  Men 
and  women  of  them  come  confidently  among  the 
English.  .  .  .  They  have  Powahes,  or  Priests, 
which  are  witches,  and  a  kind  of  Chirurgions,  but 
some  of  them  are  faine  to  be  beholding  to  the  Eng 
lish  Chirurgions.  They  will  have  their  times  of 
powaheing,  which  they  will  of  late  have  called 
Prayers,  according  to  the  English  word.  The 
Powahe  labors  himselfe  in  his  incantations,  to  ex 
treme  sweating  and  wearinesse,  even  to  extacie. 
The  Powahes  cannot  work  their  witchcrafts,  if  any 
English  be  by;  neither  can  any  of  their  incantations 
lay  hold  on,  or  doe  any  harme  to  the  English,  as  I 
have  been  credibly  informed.  The  Powahe  is  next 
to  the  King  or  Sachem,  and  commonly,  when  he 
dyes,  the  Powahe  marries  the  Squa  Sachem,  that  is, 
the  queene.  They  have  manie  wives;  they  say  they 
commit  much  filthinesse  among  themselves.  But 
for  every  marriage  the  Saggamore  hath  a  fadome  of 
wampom,  which  is  about  seven  or  eight  shillings 
value.  Some  of  them  will  attend  diligently  to  any 
thing  they  can  understand  by  any  of  our  Religion, 
and  are  very  willing  to  teach  their  language  to  any 

[56] 


TOPOGRAPHY  OF  INDIAN  TRIBES 

English.  They  live  much  better  and  peaceably  for 
the  English:  and  themselves  know  it,  or  at  least, 
their  Sachems,  and  Saggamores  know  so  much,  for 
before  they  did  nothing  but  spoile  and  destroy  one 
another.  They  live  in  wigwams,  or  houses  made 
of  mats  like  little  hutts,  the  fire  in  the  midst  of  the 
house.  They  cut  downe  a  tree  with  axes  and 
hatchets,  bought  of  the  English,  Dutch,  or  French, 
&  bring  in  the  butt-end  into  the  wigwam,  upon  the 
hearth;  and  so  burne  it  by  degrees.  They  live  upon 
parched  corne,  (of  late  they  grind  at  our  English 
mills,)  Venison,  Bevers,  Otters,  Oysters,  Clammes, 
Lobsters  and  other  fish,  Ground-nuts,  Akornes, 
they  boyle  all  together  in  a  kettle.  Their  riches  are 
their  wampom,  bolles  and  trayes,  kettles,  spoones, 
bever,  furres  and  canoes.  He  is  a  Sachem  [whose 
wife]  hath  her  clean  spoons  in  a  chest,  for  some 
chiefe  English  men,  when  they  come  on  guest-wise 
to  the  wigwam.  They  lye  upon  a  mat,  with  a  stone, 
or  a  piece  of  wood  under  their  heads ;  they  will  give 
the  best  entertainment  they  can  make  to  any  Eng 
lish  comming  amongst  them.  They  will  not  taste 
sweet  things,  nor  alter  their  habit  willingly;  onely 
they  are  taken  with  tobacco,  wine,  and  strong 
waters;  and  I  have  scene  some  of  them  in  English 
or  French  cloathes.  Their  ordinary  weapons  are 
bowes  and  arrowes,  and  long  staves  or  halfe  pikes, 
with  pieces  of  swords,  daggers,  or  knives  in  the 
ends  of  them:  They  have  Captaines,  and  are  very 
good  at  a  short  mark,  and  nimble  of  foot  to  run 

[57] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

away.  Their  manner  of  fighting  is  most  commonly 
all  one  style.  They  are  many  in  number,  and  wor 
ship  Kitan,  their  good  god,  or  Hobbamocco,  their 
evill  god;  but  more  feare  Hobbamocco,  because  he 
doth  them  most  harme.  .  .  .  Among  some  of  these 
Nations,  their  policie  is  to  have  two  Kings  at  a  time; 
but,  I  thinke,  of  one  family;  the  one  aged  for  coun- 
sell,  the  other  younger,  for  action.  Their  Kings 
succeed  by  inheritance."1 

1  Lechford,  Plaine  dealing,  or  Newes  from  New-England 
(London,  1642),  pp.  49-52. 

Third  Series,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  iii.,  pp.  102-105. 

John  Josselyn,  Two  Voyages  to  New  England  (London, 
1675),  pp. 123-140. 

Vide  Reprint  in  Third  Series,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  iii., 
pp.  293-305. 


[58] 


THE   EARLY   SETTLER  AND   THE 
INDIAN 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE 
INDIAN 

OF  the  English  occupancy  of  New  England, 
the  years  between  1675  and  1760  may  well 
be  regarded  as  the  most  important  in  the  formative 
period  of  colonial  history.  While  the  decade  fol 
lowing  the  coming  of  the  Mayflower  was  pervaded 
with  resultant  potencies,  it  was  hardly  more  than 
the  suggestive  initial  which  marked  the  opening 
of  the  first  chapter  of  a  story  destined  to  lead  in 
the  history  of  nations. 

As  an  indent  at  the  beginning  of  this  historical 
paragraph  the  picture  is  one  of  tragic  interest.  *  Its 
foreground  is  a  mere  handful  of  self-exiled  human 
ity;  isolate;  shelterless  almost;  with  an  impover 
ished  larder  and,  as  against  the  voiceless  threat  of 
impending  and  unknown  perils,  apparently  im 
potent.  Over  their  heads  was  the  roof  of  a  ship's 
deck  —  a  ship  anchored  in  a  strange  sea  under  the 
lee  of  a  strange  and  unexplored  country.  Its  back 
ground  is  a  like  strange  wilderness  of  foreboding 
silences,  whitened  with  a  rime  of  snow  and  sleet. 
Its  low  horizon,  grimly,  inhospitably  gray,  is  sug 
gestive  of  a  sinister  prophecy.  As  colorless  as  this 
particular  moment  appears,  it  is  tinged  with  the 
invisible  rose  of  an  unheralded  daybreak  before 
which  the  aboriginal  mystery,  as  old  as  the  Skrel- 
lings  of  the  Norse  Sagas,  is  eventually  to  disappear. 

[61] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

If  the  landing  of  William  Bradford  and  his  little 
company  of  Separatists  —  the  unconscious  nu 
cleus  of  an  entirely  new  political  principle,  the 
germ  of  a  new  statehood  the  fundamental  tenet  of 
which  was  absolute  freedom  of  conscience  —  was 
the  beginning  of  a  New  World  epoch,  the  un 
heralded  advent  of  Samoset  among  the  Plymouth 
settlers  and  the  rude  embassy  of  Massasoit  to 
gether  were  the  landmark  from  which  was  to  be 
reckoned  the  displacement  of  the  aborigine  from 
his  birthright  and  the  consequent  deterioration  of 
his  proffered  friendship  to  the  English  into  secret 
—  and  finally  open  —  hostility.  The  Plymouth 
people  were  kindly  and  temperate  in  their  treat 
ment  of  the  savage  when  it  did  not  cost  them  over 
much,  though,  after  their  English  fashion,  they 
discouraged  his  familiarities.  Stranded  upon  the 
rugged  shores  of  Massachusetts,  threatened  with 
starvation,  put  upon  short  rations  at  times,  the  un 
written  law  of  Plymouth  was  —  self-preservation. 
Unfamiliar  with  the  comity  of  their  savage  neigh 
bors,  they  often  trespassed  upon  the  rights  of  these 
unsophisticated  children  of  the  forest,  but  not 
always  intentionally.  Had  the  later  comers  been 
as  kindly-intentioned  and  forbearing  toward  the 
Indians  as  were  the  settlers  at  Plymouth,  as  ex 
pressed  through  Winslow  in  his  dealings  with  them, 
the  story  of  Philip's  treachery  might  have  found 
no  occasion  for  a  narrator.  The  Puritan,  however,, 
was  of  a  different  pattern  and  of  coarser  weave. 

[62] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

With  the  coming  of  the  Puritan  began  the  en 
croachments  of  the  settler  upon  the  prescriptive 
rights    of    the    Indians,    the    absorption    of    their      , 
hunting-grounds,  their  maize-fields,  and  the  streams 
that  supplied  them  with  their  fish.    The  Puritan 
was   a   trader,   with   a   trader's   conscience.     The 
Englishman    made    his    superior    civilization    the  v 
apology  for  his  slender  honesty  with  the  aborigine.1 
If  the  Indian  had  any  prescriptive  rights,  they  were 

1  The  first  letter  of  instruction  to  Governor  Endicott  from 
the  New  England  Company  contained  the  following:  "And 
above  all,  we  pray  you  be  careful  that  there  be  none  in  our 
precincts  permitted  to  do  any  injury,  in  the  least  kind,  to  the 
heathen  people;  and  if  any  offend  in  that  way,  let  them  re 
ceive  a  correction.  .  .  .  And  for  the  avoiding  of  the  hurt  that 
may  follow  through  our  much  familiarity  with  the  Indians, 
we  conceive  it  fit  that  they  be  not  permitted  to  come  to  your 
plantation  but  at  certain  times  and  places,  to  be  appointed 
them.  If  any  one  of  the  salvages  pretend  right  of  inheritance 
to  all  or  any  of  the  lands  granted  in  our  patent,  we  pray  you 
endeavor  to  purchase  their  title,  that  we  may  avoid  the  least 
scruple  of  intrusion  [italics  the  author's]." 

Young's  Chronicles,  p.  159. 

Young  says,  in  a  note,  "The  first  President  Adams,  being 
asked  his  opinion  concerning  the  treatment  of  the  Indians  in 
New  England,  replied  that  he  believed  that  it  had  been  just. 
'  In  all  my  practice  at  the  Bar,'  said  he,  *  I  never  knew  a  con 
tested  title  but  what  was  traced  up  to  the  Indian  title.'" 

Naturally  that  would  be  the  result,  and  while  the  distin 
guished  gentleman  quoted  may  be  safe  in  his  statement,  it 
proves  nothing.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  king  was 
the  source  of  almost  all  New  England  titles. 

[63] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

ignored.  If  the  Indian  gave  a  deed  of  his  lands  to 
the  English,  it  was  by  an  instrument  of  which  he 
had  no  comprehension,  the  consideration  for  which 
was  a  pittance  —  a  something  to  tempt  the  appe 
tite  of  the  savage,  which  ranged  from  strong  waters 
to  pumpkins.  The  Puritan  took  shelter  behind 
these  conveyances,  and  divers  historians  have  been 
at  great  pains  to  establish  the  fact  that  the  Indians 
were  compensated  for  their  lands,  when  the  fact 
remains  that  the  poor  savage  was  a  modern  Esau 
who  parted  with  his  birthright  for  a  mess  of  pottage 
—  and  poor  pottage  at  that.1 

When  the  Pilgrims  were  drawing  up  their  com 
pact  of  government  in  the  cabin  of  the  Mayflower, 
in  Cape  Cod  Harbor,  they  were  unaware  that  the 
Great  Patent  of  New  England  had  been  created 
under  the  hand  of  the  king,  by  which  the  shore  be- 

1  Robin  Hood,  a  sachem  of  the  upper  waters  of  the  Saga- 
dahoc  River,  deeded  a  large  tract  of  land  on  the  Sasanoa,  a 
stream  rich  in  historic  associations,  for  a  hogshead  of  corn 
and  a  few  pumpkins. 

In  March,  1640,  the  Norwalk  Indians  sold  a  large  part  of 
their  territory  to  one  Roger  Ludlow,  of  Fairfield,  Conn.  The 
conveyance  comprised  all  the  land  between  the  Norwalk  and 
Saugatuck  Rivers.  Its  depth  into  the  country  was  as  far  as  a 
man  could  walk  from  the  sea  in  a  day's  span.  The  consider 
ation  for  the  deed  was  "eight  fathoms  of  Wampum,  Six 
Coats,  ten  hoes,  ten  hatchets,  ten  scissors,  ten  jewsharps,  ten 
fathoms  of  tobacco,  three  kettles  of  six  hands  about,  and  ten 
looking-glasses  [italics  the  author's]."  The  deed  was  signed 
by  Mahackemo  and  four  of  his  tribe. 

[64] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

fore  them  had  been  erected  into  the  County  of 
Devon,  with  Plymouth  as  its  shire  town,  and  by 
which  certain  English  land  promoters  were  to 
"plant,  rule,  and  govern  New  England."  The 
Mayflower  compact  created  no  body  politic.  It 
gave  no  legislative  or  judicial  powers  to  those  asso 
ciated  under  it.  Its  strongest  obligation  was  the 
common  consent;  yet  it  was  of  the  highest  moral 
character,  else  it  could  not  have  endured,  as  it  did, 
for  a  decade.  Probably  its  saving  salt  was  the  de 
voutly  religious  practice  and  feeling  which  directed 
the  habits  of  the  community,  where  each  member 
was  upon  a  footing  of  the  most  perfect  equality. 

In  1630,  when  Allerton1  had  obtained  from  the 
council  larger  powers  than  those  of  the  Pierce 
patent,  which  had  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Mer 
chant  Adventurers  (a  trading  company,  without 
political  power),  was  established  the  source  of  all 
the  titles  to  land  in  New  England.  The  original 


1  Isaac  Allerton  was  at  one  time  the  richest  man  in  the 
colony;  was  assistant,  1621,  and  sole  officer  for  three  years 
under  the  government.  His  wife  dying  soon  after  landing, 
he  married  Fear  Brewster,  daughter  of  Elder  William;  she 
dying,  1633,  he  married  again.  He  passed  his  later  years  at 
New  Haven,  and  died  there,  1659,  insolvent.  He  was  an 
energetic  man  and  had  pushed  his  enterprises  as  far  as  the 
Penobscot  River,  where  he  established  a  trading-station  with 
the  Indians. 

Savage,  Gen.  Diet.,  vol.  i.,  p.  38. 

Leyden,  MSS.  Record. 

[65] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

right  to  the  soil  was  founded  solely  upon  occupa 
tion.  The  English  found  it  without  inhabitants, — 
what  they  termed  a  wilderness, —  and  to  them  oc 
cupation  was  the  strongest  title  they  could  acquire.1 
They  had  as  well  full  and  free  consent  from 
Massasoit,  as  the  sachem  governing  the  territory 
within  the  limits  of  which  they  proposed  to  erect 
their  homes.2  They  interfered  with  no  native 
right.  Fishing  and  hunting  were  as  free  after  as 
before  their  coming,  and  the  English  believed 
there  was  an  abundance  of  both  for  their  mainte 
nance.  However  specious  the  premise  of  the  writer 
who  finds  himself  impelled  to  apologize  for  the 
self-aggrandizement  of  the  first-comers  to  New 
England,  the  fact  remains  that  these  processes  of 
historical  justification  are  mere  afterthoughts.  The 

1  Higginson  mentions  the  plague  which  visited  the  Indians 
some   "twelve  years  since," — he  must  have  been  writing 
about  1630, —  so  there  were  "very  few  left  to  inhabit  the 
country.    The  Indians  are  not  able  to  make  use  of  the  one 
fourth  part  of  the  land;  neither  have  they  any  settled  places 
as  towns  to  dwell  in;  nor  any  ground  as  they  challenge  for 
their  own  possession,  but  change  their  habitation  from  place 
to  place." 

Young's  Chronicles,  p.  556. 

2  Dexter, in  his  note,  Mourt,  91,  says  that  Massasoit  "sold 
much  land  to  the  English  at  various  times,  and  always  scru 
pulously,  and  most  honorably,  kept  his  treaty  agreements 
with  them." 

Also,    Church's   Entertaining   Passages,    p.    38;    Drake's 
Book  of  the  Indians,  pp.  81-92. 

[66] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

title  was  in  the  savage  by  right  of  prior  occupancy, 
—  an  occupancy  covering  untold  years, —  and  was 
to  pass  into  the  hands  of  another  and  alien  race  by 
that  process  of  absorption  which  the  strong  ever 
exercise  over  the  weak.  If  it  was  not  by  acts  of 
overt  subjugation,  it  was  by  methods  sufficiently 
allied  to  that  principle.  With  the  coming  of  the 
"planters"  who  began  their  settlements  about 
Boston  Harbor  no  pretext  was  allowed  to  pass  un-  / 
improved  for  a  quarrel  with  the  natives,  who  in 
every  controversy  with  the  English  found  them 
selves  worsted.  Like  the  redoubtable  Captain 
Miles  Standish,  the  English  went  about  with  the 
traditional  chip  on  their  shoulders,  nor  were  the 
savages  long  in  interpreting  this  attitude  as  inimical 
to  their  interests,  vested  or  otherwise.1 

The  story  that  runs  down  through  the  seven 
teenth  century  and  well  into  the  eighteenth  covers 
a  series  of  tragic  vicissitudes.  The  relation  is  one 
of  treachery  on  the  part  of  the  English,  with  adroit 

1  Francis  Higginson,  a  reverend  divine  of  New  England  in 
1630,  in  a  little  book  of  twenty-five  pages,  "Printed  at  Lon 
don  at  the  Signe  of  the  Blew  Bible  in  Green  Arbor,  1630," 
says  of  the  Indians:  "For  therein  dealing  with  us,  we  neither  v 
fear  them,  nor  trust  them;  for  forty  of  our  musketeers  will 
drive  five  hundred  of  them  out  of  the  field."  He  adds,  "We 
use  them  kindly,  they  will  come  into  our  houses  sometimes 
by  half  a  dozen,  or  half  a  score,  at  a  time  when  we  are  at 
victuals,  but  will  ask  or  take  nothing  but  what  we  give  them." 

Young's  Chronicles,  p.  259. 

[67] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

instigation  and  Jesuit  interference  on  the  part  of 
the  French;  and  on  the  part  of  the  Indian,  the 
climax  of  savage  duplicity  and  cruelty,  fiendish 
butchery  and  annihilation. 

Outside  of  the  settlement  at  Plymouth,  the  quest 
of  the  English  adventurer  primarily  was  fish  and 
furs.  He  marked  his  first  footholds  with  a  trading- 
station.  He  came  loaded  with  knives,  axes,  and 
trinkets  of  trifling  value,  glass  beads  and  cheap 
cloths  of  brilliant  colorings,  which  he  exchanged 
for  peltry. '  Captain  John  Smith  was  at  Monhegan 
in  1614,  and  relates  that,  for  trifles,  they  got  "near 
11,000  beaver  skins,  100  martin,  and  as  many 
otters,  the  most  of  them  within  a  distance  of  20 
leagues."  Hunt,  who  accompanied  him,  remained 
behind;  but  instead  of  a  ship-load  of  peltry,  he  had 
"betrayed  four  and  twenty  of  those  poor  savages 
aboard  his  ship,  and  most  dishonestly  and  in 
humanly,  for  their  kind  usage  of  me  and  all  our 
men,  carried  them  to  Malaga;  and  there,  for  a 
little  private  gain,  sold  these  silly  salvages  for  rials 
of  eight."  Smith  goes  on  to  say  that  "this  vile  act 
kept  him  ever  after  from  any  more  employment  to 
those  parts."  Smith  practically  robbed  the  Indian 
of  his  merchandise,  while  Hunt  robbed  him  of  his 
freedom.  ' 

The  memory  of  the  savage,  where  his  wrongs 
were  concerned,  is  proverbial,  and  it  is  pertinent 
right  here  to  allude  in  passing  to  the  several  kid 
napping  episodes  which  began  with  the  adventurous 

[68] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

Verrazano.  Incidentally,  they  throw  a  side-light 
upon  the  savage  disposition  to  hostility  against  the 
actual  settler  when  he  made  his  advent  among 
them,  which  is  not  only  their  justification,  but  a 
matter  of  self-defence. 

Verrazano  was  here  in  1524.  He  made  an  ex- 
tended  voyage  along  the  coast.  One  finds  this  in 
Foster's  narration  of  that  adventure.  Bay  lie 
locates  Verrazano's  point  of  contact  with  the  neigh 
boring  country  as  somewhere  along  the  Connecti 
cut  shore.  Foster  says:  "Twenty  of  his  [Verra 
zano's]  men  landed  and  went  about  two  leagues 
up  into  the  country.  The  inhabitants  fled  before 
them,  but  they  caught  an  old  woman  who  had  hid 
herself  in  the  high  grass,  with  a  young  woman 
about  18  years  of  age.  The  old  woman  carried  a 
child  upon  her  back,  and  had,  besides,  two  little 
boys  with  her.  The  young  woman,  too,  carried 
three  children  of  her  own  sex.  Seeing  themselves 
discovered,  they  began  to  shriek,  and  the  old  one 
gave  them  to  understand,  by  signs,  that  the  men 
were  fled  to  the  woods.  They  offered  her  some 
thing  to  eat,  which  she  accepted,  but  the  maiden 
refused  it.  This  girl,  who  was  tall  and  well-shaped, 
they  were  desirous  of  taking  along  with  them,  but 
as  she  made  a  violent  outcry,  they  contented  them 
selves  with  taking  a  boy  away  with  them." 

Eleven  years  later  Jacques  Carrier  was  at  the  St. 
Lawrence  River.  Donnacona  was  sachem  of  the 
tribes  in  that  locality.  He  received  Cartier  hos- 

[69] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

pitably,  a  kindliness  which  Cartier  repaid  by  kid 
napping  him  and  carrying  him  away  to  France, 
where  the  savage  soon  after  died. 

In  1605  Wey mouth  sailed  into  the  mouth  of  the 
Sagadahoc  River.  We  will  let  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges  tell  the  story.  He  says  that  Wey  mouth, 
"falling  short  of  his  course  [in  seeking  the  North 
west  passage],  happened  into  a  river  on  the  coast 
of  America  called  Pemmaquid,  from  whence  he 
brought  five  of  the  natives."  Returning  to  Eng 
land,  WTey mouth  sailed  into  the  harbor  of  Plymouth, 
then  under  Gorges's  jurisdiction.  Three  of  these 
savages  were  Nahanada,  Skittwarroes,  and  Tis- 
quantum.  Gorges  says,  "These  I  seized  upon. 
They  were  all  of  one  nation,  but  of  several  parts, 
and  several  families.  This  accident  [italics  the  au 
thor's]  must  be  acknowledged  the  means,  under 
God,  of  putting  on  foot  and  giving  life  to  all  our 
plantations."  History  does  not  record  that  at  that 
time  the  English  had  any  plantations  in  North 
America. 

Shortly  after  1606  a  vessel  was  fitted  out  and 
despatched  under  Henry  Chalons.  Its  destination 
was  the  New  England  coast.  He  had  two  of  Wey- 
mouth's  savages  along.  He  was  captured  by  the 
Spaniards.  Assacumet,  one  of  the  savages,  was 
recovered,  and  possibly  the  other. 

Before  the  news  of  Chalons's  capture  was  had  in 
London  another  vessel  was  fitted  out  at  Bristol,  as 
a  reenforcement  to  the  Chalons  expedition,  with 

[70] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

Martin  Prin  as  master.  Dehainda  and  Skittwar- 
roes,  two  of  the  kidnapped  savages,  accompanied 
him.1  They  returned  to  England  with  Prin.  The 
following  year,  1607,  these  two  savages  acted  as 
pilots  for  the  first  New  England  colony.  They 
went  into  the  mouth  of  the  Sagadahoc  with  the 
English,  to  return  at  the  first  opportunity  to  their 
tribes.  The  Sagadahoc  settlement  was  abandoned 
the  following  spring  and  the  locality  deserted  by 
the  English  until  the  Smith  expedition  of  1614, 
after  which  it  is  probable  there  was  a  fishing-settle 
ment  at  New  Harbor  on  Pemaquid  Point,  these 
waters  being  almost  constantly  frequented  for  the 
great  stores  of  codfish  which  they  contained,  as 
many  as  fifty  fishing-vessels  being  here  at  one  time. 
In  1611  Captain  Edward  Harlow  was  at  Mon- 
hegan,  where  he  kidnapped  three  Indians,  one  of 
whom  escaped.  Sailing  tp  the  southward,  they 
came  to  an  island  then^  known  to  the  savages  as 
Nonono.  Here  Harlow  captured  another  savage. 
Sailing  down  to  Capawick  (Martha's  Vineyard), 

1  The  savage  Dehamda  is  undoubtedly  the  Nahanada  of 
the  Sagadahoc  country.  The  spelling  of  the  Indian  names 
by  the  early  historians  is  somewhat  uncertain.  It  has  been 
questioned  whether  the  Tisquantum  mentioned  in  connection 
with  Weymouth's  voyage  was  the  Squanto  who  acted  as  the 
interpreter  of  the  sachem  Massasoit  in  his  interviews  with  the' 
English.  The  dates  given  put  the  matter  in  some  doubt. 
Drake  is  inclined  to  believe  in  their  identity. 

See  Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  4. 

[71] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

he  captured  two  others,  Epanow  and  Coneconum, 
and  then,  with  these  five  unfortunates,  he  hoisted 
sail  for  home.  Epanow  —  or  Epenewe,  as  Gorges 
calls  him  —  returned  with  Captain  Hobson  in 
1614.  Hunt,  who  had  kept  Captain  Smith  com 
pany  over,  was  the  last  to  leave  the  region  of 
Monhegan. 

Sir  F.  Gorges  records:  "While  I  was  laboring  by 
what  means  I  might  best  continue  life  in  my 
languishing  hopes,  there  comes  one  Henry  Harley 
[Harlow]  unto  me,  bringing  with  him  a  native  of 
the  Island  of  Capawick,  a  place  seated  to  the  south 
ward  of  Cape  Cod,  whose  name  was  Epenewe,  a 
person  of  goodly  stature,  strong  and  well-propor 
tioned.  This  man  was  taken  upon  the  main  [by 
force],  with  some  29  others  by  a  ship  of  London  that 
endeavored  to  sell  them  for  slaves  in  Spaine,  but 
being  understood  that  they  were  Americans,  and 
being  found  unapt  for  their  uses,  this  one  of  them 
they  refused,  wherein  they  exprest  more  worth 
than  those  that  brought  them  to  the  market,  who 
could  not  but  known  that  our  nation  was  at  that 
time  in  travel  for  setling  of  Christian  colonies  upon 
that  continent,  it  being  an  act  much  tending  to  our 
prejudice,  when  we  came  into  that  part  of  the 
countries,  as  it  shall  further  appear.  How  Captain 
Harley  came  to  be  possessed  of  this  savage,  I 
know  not,  but  I  understood  by  others  how  he  had 
been  shown  in  London  for  a  wonder.  It  is  true  (as 
I  have  said)  he  was  a  goodly  man,  of  a  brave  as- 

[72] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

pect,  stout  and  sober  in  his  demeanor,  and  had 
learned  so  much  English  as  to  bid  those  that  won 
dered  at  him,  Welcome,  Welcome;  this  being  the 
last  and  best  use  they  could  make  of  him,  that  was 
now  grown  out  of  the  people's  wonder.  The  cap 
tain  falling  further  into  his  familiarity,  found  him 
to  be  of  acquaintance  and  friendship  with  those 
subject  to  the  Bashaba,  whom  the  captain  well 
knew,  being  himself  one  of  the  plantation,  sent  over 
by  the  lord  chief- justice  [Popham],  and  by  that 
means  understood  much  of  his  language,  found  out 
the  place  of  his  birth." 

Epanow  found  Assacumet  here  in  London. 
Planning  to  escape,  in  their  longing  for  the  wilder 
ness,  they  showed  a  great  astuteness,  and  a  keener 
intellect  than  that  with  which  they  had  been 
credited.  Their  first  effort  was  to  discover  the 
motive  of  the  English  in  going  over  to  the  new 
country  in  their  great  ships.  That  in  their  posses 
sion,  they  exercised  their  cunning  in  playing  upon 
the  avaricious  disposition  of  the  English  by  telling 
their  jailers  they  knew  where  there  was  gold  in 
abundance,  at  the  same  time  expressing  their  will 
ingness  to  lead  them  where  it  was  to  be  found.  It 
was  to  be  had  among  the  sands  of  Capoge,  an  island 
off  the  coast  of  Cape  Cod,  as  well  as  along  the 
dunes  of  the  Cape  itself. 

When  Captain  Hobson  sailed  away  from  Eng 
land,  in  1614,  Epanow,  Assacumet,  and  Wanape 
kept  him  company.  Once  they  were  anchored  in 

[73] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

familiar  waters  and  his  kin  were  gathered  about 
the  ship  in  their  canoes,  Epanow  effected  his  es 
cape.  Gorges  mourned  the  event:  "And  thus  were 
my  hopes  of  that  particular  [voyage]  made  void  and 
frustrate."  Captain  Thomas  Dermer  was  over 
here  in  1619.  He  went  ashore  at  Martha's  Vine 
yard  to  trade  with  the  savages.  Epanow  was  there. 
There  was  a  fight  in  which  several  of  the  savages 
were  killed.  All  of  Dermer's  men  who  were  ashore, 
according  to  Morton,  were  likewise  killed,  except 
the  one  who  "kept  the  boat."  Epanow  made  a 
special  effort  to  capture  Dermer;  "But  the  [cap 
tain]  himself  got  on  board  very  sore  wounded,  and 
they  had  cut  off  his  head  upon  the  cuddy  of  the 
boat,  had  not  his  man  rescued  him  with  a  sword, 
and  so  they  got  him  away."  Tisquantum,  or 
Squanto,  was  with  Dermer  at  this  time.  These  kid 
nappings,  brought  down  to  the  time  of  the  beginning 
of  the  Plymouth  settlement,  to  the  savages  of  the 
different  tribes  up  and  down  the  coast  were  more 
than  a  tradition.  The  victims  of  these  nefarious 
practices  were  again  on  their  own  ground  awaiting 
the  opportunity  to  retaliate. 

The  Pilgrims  were  to  come  near  the  end  of  the 
following  year. 

One  can  imagine  the  savage  Nahanada,  Epanow, 
and  Squanto  as  they  gathered  about  their  wigwam 
fires,  Ingram-like,  relating  the  stories  of  their  wan 
derings,  and  of  the  strange  peoples  and  stranger 
things  they  had  seen  in  their  captivities  —  tales  as 

[74] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

strange  to  them  as  the  tales  of  the  Thousand  and 
One  Nights  have  seemed  to  the  present-day  reader. 
Squanto  was  a  good  story-teller,  and  no  doubt  his 
auditors  were  lost  in  amaze,  and  felt  their  hearts 
chill  with  strange  fear  as  they  saw  the  hull  of  the 
adventurous  Englishman,  growing  larger  and  ever 
larger,  upon  the  horizon  of  the  Great  Waters. 

Anticipating  somewhat  the  outbreak  that  came 
in  1675  between  King  Philip  and  the  colony  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  the  intercourse  of  the  settler 
with  the  Indian,  always  of  shifting  color  and  as 
pect,  lends  to  the  events  that  marked  the  first  days 
at  Plymouth,  and  that  accumulated  through  the 
growing  years,  including  the  Pequot  troubles  of 
1637,  a  cumulative  interest. 

The  relation  of  the  happenings  that  led  up  to  the 
treachery  of  Philip  and  his  annihilation,  and  that 
ten  years  later  betrayed  the  ambitious  schemes  of 
Louis  xiv.,  is  a  mingling  of  savage  vindictiveness 
and  French  diplomacy.  If  the  savage  proved  an 
apt  pupil,  his  English  neighbor  was  no  less  an  adept 
in  the  unwisdom  of  dishonesty,  and  in  catering  to 
the  animal  propensities  that  found  their  first  victim 
amid  the  silence  and  isolation  of  Richmond's 
Island,  off  the  mouth  of  the  Spurwink  River,  a  tide 
stream  that  breaks  apart  the  Scarborough  marshes. 
George  Richmon  came  here  first.  He  may  be  re 
garded  as  a  contemporary  of  the  Plymouth  settle 
ment.  He  had  a  trading-station  on  the  island, 
where  he  built  a  small  vessel.  The  occupancy 

[75] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

passed  quite  early  from  Richmon  into  the  possession 
of  Walter  Bagnall.  Bagnall  was  an  acquaintance 
of  Thomas  Morton's,  and  it  was  here  Morton  spent 
some  portion  of  his  time  after  his  difficulty  with  the 
purists  of  Plymouth.  Bagnall  was  murdered  by  the 
savages,  and  his  trading-house  burned.  It  was  the 
first  instance  of  its  kind  in  the  history  of  the  settle 
ments.1 

1  Bagnall  was  a  dark-visaged  man,  of  scant  principle,  who 
robbed  the  Indians,  in  his  trade  with  them,  unmercifully. 
He  had  incurred  their  suspicion  and  hatred.  He  sold  them 
rum,  got  them  drunk,  and  then  paid  them  what  he  pleased. 
Squidrayset  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  ringleader  in  the 
crime,  no  doubt  instigated  by  his  knowledge  of  the  kidnap 
pings  by  the  English  on  either  side  of  his  domain.  The  event 
happened  some  eight  years  after  the  settlement  of  Plymouth 
[Drake  gives  the  date  October,  1631.  It  must  have  been  one 
or  two  years  earlier];  but  so  far  was  Richmond's  Island  to 
the  eastward,  and  so  notorious  was  Bagnall's  character,  that 
no  particular  importance  was  attached  to  the  event.  An 
English  sloop  touched  at  the  island  a  month  later;  but  the 
English  found  only  a  heap  of  ashes  and  a  few  charred  bones. 
Two  years  later  this  island  passed  into  the  possession  of 
Edward  Trelawney,  an  English  merchant  who  sent  over 
one  John  Winter  (1630-31)  as  his  agent.  Winter  was  no  less 
unprincipled  than  Bagnall,  except  that  he  cloaked  his  greed 
somewhat.  That  he  did  not  share  the  fate  of  Bagnall  is 
possibly  owing  to  the  fact  that  he  had  at  his  back  a  company 
of  sturdy  servitors,  who  were  amply  supplied  with  muskets, 
ammunition,  and  even  more  formidable  gunnery.  Winter 
did  not  live  to  see  the  onslaught  of  Mugg  upon  the  Scar 
borough  settlers,  which  was  contemporary  with  the  conflict 
of  1675. 

[76] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

The  easternmost  point  of  English  contact  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Plymouth  settlement  was  at  Pema- 
quid,  and  it  is  more  than  probable  that  there  was  a 
small  resident  English  population  at  New  Harbor. 
If  there  was,  it  is  evident  that  its  contingent  had  no 
annalist  who  regarded  its  occupation  as  of  sufficient 
importance  to  inspire  a  record  of  its  meager  inci 
dents  of  living.  That  such  do  not  exist  affords  no 
presumption  against  such  an  inference;  for  nega 
tive  proof  is  sometimes  most  convincing.  That  was 
Samoset's  domain,  whose  friendliness  to  the  Eng 
lish  was  evidenced  in  his  generosity  to  Brown,  to 
whom  he  gave  a  conveyance,  around  1628,  of  most 
ample  proportions.  In  nobility  of  character,  Samo- 
set  was  the  equal  of  Massasoit;  and  in  natural  in 
telligence,  greatly  his  superior.1 

^anioset  is  the  John  Somerset  who  affixed  his  sign- 
manual,  a  rudely-drawn  bow  and  arrow,  to  a  conveyance  to 
John  Brown  of  a  large  tract  of  land  in  Bristol,  Me.  He  was 
the  sachem  of  the  Pemaquid  country  and  the  original  pro 
prietor  of  all  the  lands  in  that  extensive  domain.  He  was  a 
friend  of  Levett,  who  built  a  house  in  Casco  Bay,  the  first 
house-builder  within  the  Maine  province.  He  entertained 
Levett  at  Capemanwagen,  now  known  as  Southport,  Me., 
in  1625.  His  deed  to  Brown  bore  also  the  signature  of 
Ungongoit.  It  is  noted  as  being  the  earliest  deed  made  by  a 
savage  to  the  white  man.  Samoset  was  living  as  late  as  1653; 
for  in  that  year  he  sold  land  to  William  Parnall,  Thomas  Way, 
and  William  England.  That  he  was  very  aged  at  that  time 
is  certified  by  the  tremulous  hand  with  which  he  affixed  for 
the  last  time,  probably,  the  sign  of  the  hunter's  bow  and 

[77] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

Whenever  the  English  conscience  had  to  do  with 
the   Indian,   it   was   singularly   dormant.1     If   the 

arrow.  He  was  not  alive  at  the  breaking  out  of  King  Philip's 
War.  He  was  a  whole-souled  gentleman,  kindly,  generous, 
pacific,  and  a  staunch  friend  of  the  white  man.  He  loved 
John  Brown  as  a  brother,  and  John  Brown  always  treated 
Samoset  with  the  utmost  consideration.  When  the  other 
houses  of  the  settlers  were  destroyed  about  Pemaquid  by  the 
savages,  Brown's  was  untouched. 

Maine  Hist.  Soc.  Coll,  vol.  v.,  pp.  186-193. 

Sewall's  Ancient  Dominions  of  Maine,  p.  102. 

1An  excerpt  is  here  given  from  Plymouth  Colony  Records, 
vol.  vii.,  p.  195: 

"  1674-5.  Att  the  Court  of  his  Matie  holden  att  Plymouth 
2  March.  2<x>*d  March,  1674, 

Before  Josias  Winslow  John  Freeman 

John  Alden  Constant  Southworth 

William  Bradford          James  Browne,  and 
Thomas  Hinckley          James  Cudworth. 
Assistants,  etc. 

"Robin,  of  Massachusetts,  Ralph  and  Sampson,  of 

Nobscussett,  Indians,  in  the  right  of  theire  wives,  the  daugh 
ters  of  Napoitan,  Indian  Sachem,  deceased,  complaineth  of 
much  wronge  don  unto  them  by  reason  of  sundry  English 
men  unjust  possession  and  detaining  of  sundry  lands  belong 
ing  to  the  said  complainants,  which  were  the  lands  of  Napoi 
tan  aforesaid,  and  not  by  him  sold  unto  them,  the  said  lands 
lying  between  Bound  Brooke  and  Stony  Brooke,  in  the  con- 
stablewick  of  Yarmouth  and  in  pticular  complaines  against 
John  Winge,  in  an  action  on  the  case,  to  the  damage  of  fifty 
pounds  for  his  possessing  and  detaining  wrongfully  from 
them  a  psell  of  the  said  lands,  whereupon  hee  hath  built, 
fenced  and  otherwise  improved." 

This  action  was  non-suited. 

[78] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

Indian  was  to  be  Christianized,  it  was  at  the  ex 
pense  of  his  patrimony.  On  the  one  hand  was  the 
proselytism  of  Eliot;  on  the  other,  the  bulldozing 
characteristic  of  Miles  Standish,  and  land-piracy 
—  a  harsh  recapitulation  of  the  English  attitude 
toward  the  Indian,  but,  nevertheless,  comprehen 
sive.  The  Indian's  vast  domain  of  virgin  forests 
and  leaping  waters  was  appropriated  by  an  alien 
power  which  issued  at  will  its  royal  land-grants, 
without  care  or  consideration  of  those  whose  pri 
mary  rights  were  legitimate,  and  incontestably 
well-founded. 

The  English  took  up  the  best  places  along  the 
seashore,  as  they  took  the  best  of  everything  the 
savage  had  to  offer.  The  greed  of  commerce  was 
everywhere  pushing  at  his  elbow.  His  fishing  and 
hunting  grounds  were  impoverished  to  fill  the  Eng 
lishman's  purse,  else  they  were  sequestered  by  a 
jealous  occupation.  While  the  Indian  was  silent 
under  intense  provocation,  the  Englishman  was  as 
instant  to  resent  interference  with  his  trinkets  of 
perhaps  trifling  value,  and  as  well  his  assumed 
rights  of  realty,  as  he  was  indifferent  to  the  pre 
scriptive  rights  of  the  aborigine.1 

"Sometime  after  the  Plymouth  people  had  been  to  Nauset 
to  purchase  some  corn  and  not  being  able  to  remove  the  whole 
of  it,  returned  again  for  the  balance."  This  was  in  1622. 
The  amount  purchased  was  eight  hogsheads  of  corn  and 
beans.  "Standish  went  to  bring  the  corn  left  at  Nauset  [and, 
as  usual,  gets  himself  into  difficulty  with  the  Indians].  One 

[79] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

While  the  traditions  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  have 
been  accepted  as  standing  for  a  well-ordered  lib 
erty,  and  an  observance  of  the  rights  of  the  indi 
vidual,  on  the  virgin  soil  of  New  England  they 
found  their  liveliest  expressions  in  the  absorption 
of  land  areas :  a  process  of  deglutition  in  which  the 
rights  of  the  original  owner  were  utterly  ignored. 
Nor  were  the  times  without  their  secret  machina- 

of  Aspinet's  men  happening  to  come  to  one  of  Standish's 
boats,  which  being  left  entirely  without  guard,  he  took  out  a 
few  trinkets,  such  as  'beads,  scissors,  and  other  trifles,'  which 
when  the  English  captain  found  out,  'he  took  certain  of  his 
company  with  him,  and  went  to  the  sachem,  telling  him  what 
had  happened,  and  requiring  the  same  again,  or  the  party  that 
stole  them, —  or  else  he  would  revenge  it  on  them  before  his 
departure; '  and  so  he  departed  for  the  night,  '  refusing  what 
soever  kindness  they  offered  [italics  the  author's].'  However, 
next  morning,  Aspinet,  attended  by  many  of  his  men,  went 
to  the  English,  'in  a  stately  manner/  and  all  the  'trifles;'  for 
the  exposing  of  which  the  English  had  ten  times  as  much 
reprehension  as  the  man  for  taking  them." 

Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  13. 

Standish  was  inclined  always  to  be  rather  truculent. 
Drake  says  he  exercised  more  power  in  the  Plymouth  Colony 
than  the  governor  himself.  He  was  a  military  man  whose 
experience  in  the  Low  Countries  especially  fitted  him  to  deal 
with  savages.  He  was,  despite  all  the  laudatory  writings  of 
the  so-called  hero- worshippers,  something  of  a  savage.  No 
one  who  has  ever  written  of  him  has  credited  him  with  either 
a  predominating  intellect  or  a  superabundance  of  moral 
principle.  He  was,  undoubtedly,  the  man  for  the  time  and 
the  place  —  the  bully,  by  proxy,  for  the  community. 

[80] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

tions  and  diplomacies,  in  which  Winthrop  was  a 
past-master.  The  Indian  was  a  heathen,  to  be  de 
spoiled  without  mercy.  While  to  the  English  he 
could  show  no  recorded  title  to  his  holdings  in 
realty,  a  vast  and  unexplored  domain  which  offered 
inexhaustible  riches  in  furs  and  possibly  in  precious 
metals,  the  latter  fell  back  on  Biblical  precedent  as 
an  apology  for  his  indiscriminate  trespassing  upon 
a  weaker  people.  His  understanding  grew  only  as 
his  wrongs  accumulated,  and  he  bided  his  time  with 
a  marvellously  unobtrusive  patience. 

If  Massasoit  was  unsuspicious,  at  the  advent  of 
the  white  stranger,  that  his  unbidden  guest  was  to 
plunge  his  people  into  involuntary  pauperism,  if  he 
was  too  generous  of  himself  and  his  belongings,  his 
simplicity  was  not  shared  by  any  member  of  his 
family.  Alexander,  Weetamoo,  and  Philip  were 
wiser  in  their  generation  than  Massasoit.  Impelled 
by  the  finality  of  events,  Philip  appealed  to  the 
court  of  last  resort  to  the  savage.  He  was  gifted 
with  a  prophetic  eye.  The  Pequots  were  annihi 
lated.  The  English  were  occupying  everywhere. 
The  privileges  of  his  own  people  were  being  cur 
tailed  with  every  rising  sun.  That  he  lost  his  suit 
was  inevitable,  because  he  was  subject  to  the  fatal 
ism  that  always  crowds  the  weaker  to  the  wall.  The 
least  the  English  could  have  done  was  to  make  the 
people  whose  lands  they  took  their  wards.  As  drastic 
as  these  lines  may  seem  by  way  of  criticism,  as  dis 
tasteful  as  they  may  appear,  they  are  nevertheless 

[81] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

deserved,  if  history  is  to  be  written  to  the  plummet 
of  the  truth;  for  the  Indian  was  never  at  any  time 
the  debtor  of  the  Puritan  settler.  He  was  a  target 
not  only  for  the  Puritan  bullets,  but  as  well  for  the 
prayers  of  the  Puritan  clergy,  who  were  wont  to 
give  thanks  when  the  English  bullet  did  its  work 
especially  well.  Increase  Mather  was  notably 
fervent  in  thanksgiving  upon  these  occasions.1 

The  Indian  was  the  unfortunate  victim  of  every 
avaricious  whim  of  the  white  man,  who  scrupled 

1  The  Puritan  was  an  iconoclast  in  all  things  which,  from 
the  Puritan  point  of  view,  were  un-Puritan,  which  as  well 
comprehended  his  attitude  toward  the  aborigine.  His  religion 
was  one  of  repression.  Like  the  traditional  face  of  this 
austere  individual,  it  was  thin,  angular,  and  joyless.  At 
home,  on  English  soil,  toward  the  Established  Church  he  was 
diplomatic,  though  inclined  to  open  criticism  of  its  integrity. 

It  was  different  with  the  Pilgrim,  who,  ignoring  the  estab 
lished  faith,  —  a  declaimer  against  its  practices,  to  become  a 
downright  secessionist  along  spiritual  lines,  courting  persecu 
tion  in  the  garb  of  an  exile,  —  eventually  became  the  perse 
cutor  of  others  whose  religious  practices  differed  from  his 
own.  While  the  shores  of  Massachusetts  Bay  offered  new 
and  untried  experiences,  he  accepted  them  with  a  phenom 
enal  fortitude,  and  even  exaltation. 

The  first  labor  of  the  Pilgrim  and  Puritan  was  the  erection 
of  a  little  State  —  an  oligarchy  of  laymen.  Citizenship  was 
probationary,  if  not  altogether  selective.  The  Anglo-Saxon 
folk-mote  had  become  a  judicial  commune,  before  which 
tribunal  the  aspirant  for  civic  rights  and  privileges  was  placed 
on  trial.  Conscience  was  yoked  to  dogma.  A  code  of  per 
sonal  conduct  was  inaugurated  never  contemplated  under 

[82] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

not  to  plunder  him  of  his  peltry  or  his  corn,  as  the 
occasion  offered.  One  of  the  first  things  done  by 
the  Plymouth  people  when  they  happened  upon  a 
cache  in  which  the  savages  had  stored  their  crop  of 
corn  was  to  help  themselves  to  its  contents,  carry 
ing  away  even  the  kettle  which  had  been  used  for 
its  partial  protection;  and  all  without  a  thought  of 
the  toil  that  had  produced  it,  or  of  the  need  of  its 
owner.  When  they  ate  it  they  asked  God's  grace 
upon  it,  with  never  a  query  as  to  their  savage 

the  broadest  interpretation  of  the  Charter  of  Runnymead. 
Individual  belief  was  put  under  bonds  for  good  behavior, 
to  become  the  like  bond-servant  of  a  restrictive  tenet.  The 
Church  of  the  Puritan  was  made  the  bailee  of  temporal  and 
spiritual  development  along  lines  as  austere,  as  rugged,  as 
the  wind-blown  coast  along  which  the  Puritan  planted  his 
roof-tree.  His  nature,  as  wrought  out  by  his  environment  in 
conjunction  with  his  religious  teaching,  was  harsh  and  un- 
elastic.  His  desire  for  acquisition  was  the  response  to  an 
imperative  demand  —  self-preservation. 

So,  the  foothold  of  the  first  settlers  was  at  the  expense  of 
a  consideration  of  the  equitable  rights  of  others,  notably  the 
aborigine.  With  the  close  of  the  first  decade  after  the  landing 
at  Plymouth  and  the  occupation  of  ancient  Shawmut,  the 
Puritan  character  had  found  its  groove,  and  a  half-decade 
later  had  established  its  policy,  and  was  moving  along  lines 
of  definite  direction  and  effective  purpose.  Under  the  velvet 
hand  of  John  Winthrop,  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  be 
came  the  foundation  of  the  New  England  confederacy,  which 
finally  developed  into  a  political  power  with  which  the  Mother 
Country  was  unable  to  cope.  The  liberalism  of  the  present 
century  is  a  regenerated  Puritanism. 

[83] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

neighbor.  From  the  beginning,  almost,  the  Indian 
was  a  creature  to  be  made  drunk,  and  despoiled 
after  he  had  been  debauched. 

It  needed  two  generations  of  the  white  man  to 
educate  the  Indian;  more  than  sixty  years  of  Eng 
lish  intercourse,  such  as  it  was,  to  precipitate  a 
conflict,  which,  to  have  been  successful  on  the  part 
of  the  savages,  should  not  have  been  so  long  de 
layed.1  It  was  a  conflict  for  extermination,  which 
was  to  continue,  after  a  desultory  fashion,  beyond 
the  middle  of  the  following  century.  It  was  under 
the  shadow  of  Mount  Hope  (Mon-taup)  that  the 
jealous  and  intriguing  Philip,  whose  hatred  of  the 
English  was  fanned  by  the  unfortunate  WTeetamoo, 
invoked  the  ultimate  extinction  of  his  race,  which 
was  practically  accomplished  less  than  a  century 

1  There  was  a  conspiracy  as  early  as  1623,  between  Peksuot, 
Wittuwamet,  and  perhaps  lyanough,  to  rid  themselves  of  the 
English.  Massasoit  had  been  approached  by  the  conspirators 
and,  declining  to  engage  in  these  machinations  against  the 
settlers,  charged  Hobomok  to  warn  them  of  their  danger. 
Massasoit  designated  the  Indians  of  Nauset,  Paomet,  Sac- 
conet,  Mattachiest,  Manomet,  Agowaywam,  and  the  island 
of  Capawack.  Winslow  says  Massasoit  advised  them  "to 
kill  the  men  of  Massachuset,  who  were  the  authors  of  this 
mischief."  Miles  Standish,  who  had  a  good  nose  for  such 
matters  and  who  was  not  averse  to  the  smell  of  powder,  "was 
to  make  his  party  good  against  the  Indians."  It  was  23d 
March,  1623,  "a  yearly  court  day"  at  the  Plymouth  settle 
ment.  After  due  deliberation,  war  was  declared  against  the 
Massachusetts  Indians,  and  hostilities  were  to  be  carried 

[84] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

later  within  the  depths  of  a  Maine  wilderness.  The 
knell  of  the  Indian  was  sounded  on  the  shore  of 
LovewelPs  Pond  with  the  death  of  the  Pequaket 
sachem,  Paugus.' 

It  is  of  interest  in  this  story  to  follow  the  Plym 
outh  people  through  the  early  years  of  their  in 
tercourse  with  their  savage  neighbors.  The  story 
should  be  taken  in  its  entirety,  which  is  given  with 
great  fulness  in  Mourt's  Relation,2  in  which  all 

into  the  enemy's  country.  Standish  at  once  started  for  Wessa- 
gusset,  where,  by  a  device,  he  lured  Peksuot  and  Wittu- 
wamet  and  two  other  savages  into  a  cabin  along  with  as 
many  of  his  own  men,  whereupon  the  fight  commenced 
which  resulted  in  the  killing  of  all  four  of  the  Indians,  with 
out  special  injury  to  the  Standish  party.  Describing  the 
event,  Winslow  says:  "But  it  is  incredible  how  many  wounds 
these  two  panises  [Peksuot  and  Wittuwamet]  received  before 
they  died,  not  making  any  fearful  noise,  but  catching  their 
weapons,  and  striving  to  the  last." 

JThis  fight  was  known  as  the  Battle  of  Lovewell's  Pond. 
It  took  place  at  the  mouth  of  Battle  Brook,  in  what  is  now 
Fryeburg,  Me.  It  is  a  beautiful  sheet  of  water,  and  a  place  of 
much  historic  interest.  This  was  the  end  of  the  Pigwacket 
tribe,  the  only  remnant  of  which  was  the  old  squaw  Moll 
Locket,  who  lived  here  until  her  death.  The  tradition  is  that 
after  a  time  Moll's  husband  came  back  from  Canada  bring 
ing  another  squaw  with  him,  which  Moll  resented.  Moll  and 
the  strange  squaw  at  once  engaged  in  a  fight  as  to  which  of 
them  should  have  the  man.  Poor  Moll  was  vanquished,  and 
the  victor  carried  her  savage  paramour  off  in  triumph. 

2 Dexter  says,  in  his  note  to  Mourt,  p.  98,  that  "Edward 
Winslow  was  almost  necessarily  the  author  of  that  part  of 

[85] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

writers  upon  this  period  have  placed  implicit  de 
pendence.  Much  is  to  be  gleaned  from  Bradford 
and  Winslow.  From  what  they  have  left  as  to 
their  intercourse  with  the  Indians,  one  can  readily 
follow  the  attitude  of  the  savages  toward  these  peo 
ple,  and  as  readily  trace  out  the  causes  which  led 
up  to  a  complete  alienation  of  interests,  and  finally 
to  open  hostility.  After  the  Puritans  came,  the  situ 
ation  was  in  a  way  of  being  more  complicated,  by 
reason  of  the  cold-blooded  commercialism  which 
entered  into  all  of  their  transactions  with  these  un 
fortunate  people.  Thomas  Morton  paved  the  way 
for  the  degradation  of  the  Indian  as  he  pursued  his 
revelries  at  Merry  Mount,  which  were  hardly  more 
than  a  series  of  debaucheries  in  which  the  Indians, 
men  and  women,  took  a  lively  part.  Merry  Mount 
was  a  sore  spot  to  the  Plymouth  people,  who  finally 
succeeded  in  arresting  Morton  and  sending  him  to 
England  for  trial.  Nothing  was  done  with  the 
matter  there,  for  a  year  later  Morton  was  again  at 
Boston. 

the  Relation  [The  Journey  to  Pokonoket],  as  it  was  written 
by  a  participant  in  the  Journey.  There  are  several  verbal 
correspondencies  with  the  avowed  works  which  endorse  the 
supposition." 

Young,  in  his  Pilgrims,  regards  the  Relation  as  the 
work  of  Mr.  George  Morton,  Mourt  being  a  corruption 
of  the  surname.  Drake  ascribes  the  authorship  of  the 
work  to  several  of  the  company  at  Plymouth.  He  takes 
Mourt  to  be  the  publisher's  name;  but  upon  what  ground  he 

[86] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

The  eleventh  of  November,  1620,  the  Mayflower 
came  to  anchor  in  the  Plymouth  offing.  Morton's 
Relation  records:  "Munday,  the  13.  of  Novomber 
[O.  S.],  we  vnf hipped  our  Shallop  and  drew  her  on 
land,  to  mend  and  repaire  her,  having  bin  forced 
to  cut  her  downe  in  beftowing  her  betwixt  the  decks, 
and  fhe  was  much  opened  with  the  peoples  lying  in 
her,  which  kept  vs  long  there,  for  it  was  16.  or  17. 
dayes  before  the  Carpenter  had  finifhed  her ;  our 
people  went  on  fhore  to  refrefh  themselues,  and  our 
women  to  wafh,  as  they  had  great  need;  but  whilft 
we  lay  thus  ftill,  hoping  our  Shallop1  would  be 
ready  in  fiue  or  sixe  dayes  at  the  furtheft,  but  our 
Carpenter  made  flow  work  of  it,  fo  that  fome  of 
our  people,  impatient  of  dleay,  defired  for  our  bet 
ter  furtherance  to  travaile  by  Land  into  the  Coun- 

does  not  explain.  He  accepts  the  suggestion  of  Judge  Davis 
that  Richard  Gardiner  was  the  author;  how  that  conclusion 
is  arrived  at  originally,  we  know  not.  Drake  admits,  however, 
that,  as  a  relation  of  the  early  settlement  of  "any  country, 
there  never  was  a  more  important  document."  It  was  printed 
in  1622,  in  London. 

The  author  is  of  the  opinion,  from  the  continuity  of  style 
and  construction,  that  Mourt's  Relation  is  the  work  of  a  single 
author,  and  is  inclined  to  Morton  as  the  Plymouth  annalist. 

"They  having  brought  a  large  shalop  with  them  out  of 
England,  stowed  it  in  quarters  in  ye  ship,  they  now  gott  her 
out  &  sett  their  carpenters  to  worke  to  trime  her  up ;  but  be 
ing  much  bruised  &  shattered  in  ye  shipe  wth  foule  weather, 
they  saw  she  would  be  longe  in  mending." 

Bradford,  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,  p.  80. 

[87] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

trey,  which  was  not  without  appearance  of  danger, 
not  having  the  Shallop  with  them,1  nor  meanes  to 
carry  provifion  but  on  their  backes  to  fee  whether 
it  might  be  fit  for  vs  to  feate  in  or  no,  and  the 
rather  becaufe  as  we  fayled  into  the  Harbour,  there 
feemed  to  be  a  river  opening  it  felf  into  the  maine 
land;  the  willingnes  of  the  perfons  was  liked,  but 

1  It  was  an  inclement  season,  and  there  was  more  comfort 
on  ship  than  on  shore,  there  being  no  shelters  up  for  their 
convenience;  neither  was  there  any  timber  cut  from  which 
such  shelters  could  have  been  constructed.  There  were  one 
hundred  to  be  set  ashore  who  were  to  begin  the  Plymouth 
Colony.  They  must  have  been  the  opposite  of  "impatient" 
of  delay,  except  as  they  might  desire  to  know  somewhat  of 
the  bleak  coast  before  them.  The  truth  of  the  matter  was, 
Captain  Jones  had  made  port,  from  his  point  of  view,  and 
was  anxious  to  discharge  his  cargo.  Baylie  says,  "The  mas 
ter  of  the  ship  and  the  crew,  continuing  their  importunities, 
the  pilgrims  resolved  to  commence  their  settlement  without 
delay." 

History  of  New  Plymouth,  p.  52. 

"But  what  heard  they  daly  from  y6  mr  &  company?  but 
y*  with  speede  they  should  looke  out  a  place  with  their 
shallop,  wher  they  would  be  at  some  near  distance;  for  y6 
season  was  shuch  as  he  would  not  stirr  from  thence  till  a  safe 
harbor  was  discovered  by  them  wher  they  would  be,  and  he 
might  goe  without  danger;  and  that  victelle  consumed  apace, 
but  he  must  &  would  keepe  sufficient  for  them  selves  and 
their  returne  [to  England].  Yea,  it  was  muttered  by  some 
that  if  they  gott  not  a  place  in  time,  they  would  turne  them 
&  their  goods  ashore  &  leave  them." 

Bradford's  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,  p.  96. 

[88] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

the  thing  it  felf ,  in  regard  to  the  danger  was  rather 
permitted  then  approved,  and  fo  with  cautions, 
directions,  and  inftructions,  fixteene  men  were  set 
out  with  every  man  his  Mufket,  Sword,  and  Corflet 
under  the  conduct  of  Captaine  Miles  Standish,1 
vnto  whom  was  adioyned  for  counfell  and  advife, 
William  Bradford,  Stephen  Hopkins,  and  Edward 
Tilley." 

In  tracing  the  genealogy  of  events  that  make 
up  the  story  of  the  troubles  which,  though  not 
always  apparent  between  the  English  and  the 

1 "  Myles  Standish  is  supposed  to  have  been  born  at  Dux- 
bury  Hall,  near  Chorley,  in  Lancashire,  some  twenty-three 
miles  N.  E.  from  Liverpool,  in  1584;  served  as  a  soldier  in 
the  Low  Countries;  became  interested  in  the  Pilgrims,  and 
joined  them,  though  not  one  of  their  church;  brought  over 
only  his  wife,  Rose,  who  died  a  month  after  the  landing;  he 

next  married  Barbara ,  who  is  supposed  to  have  come 

in  the  Ann,  in  1623.  He  was  constantly  engaged  in  the  pub 
lic  service;  was  Assistant  nineteen  years;  went  to  London  for 
the  colony  in  1625,  returning  the  following  Spring.  About 
1631  he  settled  on  Captain's  Hill,  in  Duxbury,  on  condition 
at  first  of  moving  into  Plymouth  in  the  winter  time  that  they 
may  the  better  repair  to  the  worship  of  God ;  there  he  died 
T3s  Oct.,  1656,  aged  72.  He  named,  in  his  will,  four  sons, — 
Alexander,  Miles,  Josiah,  and  Charles, —  and  a  deceased 
daughter,  Lora." 

Mourt's  Relation  (Dexter's  note),  p.  14. 

Savage,  Gen.  Diet.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  162. 

Plymouth  Colony  Records,  vol.  xii.,  p.  6. 

-ZV.  E.  Hist,  and  Gen.  Reg.,  vol.  v.,  pp.  335-338. 

Winsor's  History  of  Duxbury,  p.  320. 

[89] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

Indian,  were  always  in  a  way  existent,  one  must 
needs  begin  at  the  inception  of  their  relations.  No 
act  on  the  part  of  either  is  unimportant.  For  that 
reason  this  story  of  Mourt  of  the  first  venture  from 
the  deck  of  the  Mayflower  into  the  woods  of  Cape 
Cod  becomes  the  natural  point  of  contact,  histori 
cally,  of  approach  to  a  clear  understanding  of  those 
occurrences  insignificant,  possibly,  at  the  time,  but 
of  cumulative  influence  through  a  half  century  of 
comparative  inaction  on  the  part  of  the  Indians 
against  their  white  neighbors.  It  was  a  silent  in 
fluence,  yet  none  the  less  effective. 

It  was  the  fifteenth  of  November,  O.  S.,1  1620. 
They  were  put  ashore  in  accordance  with  their 
arrangements  made  on  the  ship.  Started  on  their 
explorations,  their  first  discovery  of  any  impor 
tance  was  made  when  they  had  gone  about  a  mile 

1  The  calendar  was  corrected  by  Pope  Gregory,  1582.  His 
correction  was  not  adopted  by  the  British  Parliament  until 

1751,  when  it  was  directed  that  eleven  days  in  September, 

1752,  should  be  retrenched,  and  the  third  day  of  the  month 
reckoned  as  the  fourteenth.     This  was  denominated  New 
Style,  or  the  Gregorian  account.     The  year  was  made  to 
commence  on  the  first  day  of  January  instead  of,  as  formerly 
by  the  Old  Style,  on  the  twenty-fifth  of  March.    Old  Style,  or 
the  Julian  year,  is  so  called  from  Julius  Csesar,  who  regulated 
the  calendar  about  forty  years   before   Christ.     Before  the 
Gregorian  change  there  was  more  or  less  confusion  of  dates, 
oftentimes  as  to  whether  January,  February,  and  a  portion  of 
March  closed  the  year  or  began  the  new  one. 

Gregory  dropped  ten  days  from  the  Julian  Calendar,  as 

[90] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

inland.  "They  espyed  five  or  sixe  people,  with  a 
Dogge,  comming  towards  them,  who  were  Savages, 
who  when  they  saw  them  ran  into  the  Wood  and 
whisled  the  Dogge  after  them." 

Bearing  weapons,  the  English  set  after  them  to 
overtake  them,  but  it  was  a  vain  pursuit.    If  one  is 

has  already  been  suggested.  The  reason  for  so  doing  was 
the  supposition  in  the  Julian  Calendar  that  the  length  of  the 
year  was  365  days,  5  hours,  48  minutes,  and  45J  seconds. 
Therefore  the  civil  year  was  11  minutes  and  14J  seconds 
longer  than  the  solar.  In  one  hundred  and  thirty  years  this 
difference  would  amount  to  a  whole  day.  At  the  coming  of 
1582,  this  anticipation  of  the  equinox  amounted  to  ten  days, 
which  brought  the  happening  of  the  vernal  equinox  on  the 
eleventh  of  March  instead  of  the  twenty-first,  as  it  would 
have  done  had  the  Julian  Calendar  conformed  to  the  course 
of  the  sun.  These  ten  days  were  dropped  to  even  up  the  civil 
year  with  the  solar  year.  To  preserve  the  integrity  of  the 
calendar  after  that,  it  was  ordered  that  three  days  should  be 
dropped  every  400  years,  which  was  nearly  equivalent  to  one 
day  for  each  cycle  of  130  years.  Instead  of  suppressing  one 
day  for  every  130  years,  it  was  thought  better  to  make  the 
correction  in  leap  year  only,  by  which  computation  there 
were  left  365  days  to  each  common  year.  Before  that  every 
100th  year  was  a  leap  year;  but  it  was  ordered  by  Pope 
Gregory  that  every  400th  year,  only,  should  be  considered 
as  leap  year,  and  the  other  centurial  years  as  common  years, 
the  year  1600  being  retained  as  leap  year.  Making  1700, 
1800,  and  1900  to  be  common  years,  as  they  would  have 
been  by  O.  S.,  the  error  incident  to  the  odd  time  is  corrected. 
By  this,  Dec.  11,  1620,  O.  S.,  is  Dec.  21,  N.  S.,  a  differ 
ence  which  is  perennial.  For  that  reason  Dec.  21,  1620, 
is  the  true  day  of  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims. 

[91] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

inclined  to  comment  on  this  proceeding,  the  con 
clusion  is  that  it  was  a  most  indecorous  overture. 
The  pursuit  lasted  for  a  space  of  "about  ten  miles." l 
They  followed  the  savages  by  the  "trace  of  their 
footings."  From  Mourt  one  would  glean  that  this 
first  Indian  hunt  was  terminated  only  by  nightfall. 
Setting  their  watch,  they  waited  until  the  following 
morning,  when,  like  so  many  hounds,  they  again 
took  up  the  trail  of  the  savages,  but  fruitlessly, 
which  was  undoubtedly  a  great  disappointment  to 
Captain  Miles  Standish,  who  liked  the  smell  of 
powder  and  the  noise  of  conquest.  The  principal 
event  of  that  day  was  the  discovery  of  some  ancient 
corn-fields  of  the  savages  and  some  old  mats  which 
covered  what  was  undoubtedly  an  Indian  grave, 
which  they  inspected  with  more  curiosity  than  re 
spect.  They  kept  their  course,  as  they  thought, 
toward  their  ship,  which  led  them  into  some  "new 
stubble,"  off  which  the  Indians  "had  gotten  Corne 
this  yeare."  A  little  further  on,  they  came  into  the 
stubble  of  another  corn-field  where  had  been  a 
house;  also  they  found  "a  great  Ketle,  which  had 
been  some  Ships  ketle  and  brought  out  of  Europe." 2 


1  Dexter's  Mourt,  p.  16. 

2About  1617  "a  French  ship  was  cast  away  at  Cap-Codd, 
but  ye  men  gott  ashore,  &  saved  their  lives,  and  much  of 
their  victails  &  other  goods." 
V     Bradford,  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,  p.  98. 

Bradford  adds  that  the  Indians  killed  all  but  three  or  four, 

[92] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

Under  a  heap  of  sand,  which  they  dug  open  with 
their  hands,  they  found  "a  little  old  Basket  full  of 
Faire  Indian  Corne."  They  dug  still  deeper  and 
found  "a  fine  new  Basket  full  of  very  faire  corne 
of  this  yeare,  with  some  36.  goodly  eares  of  corne, 
some  yellow,  and  some  red,  and  others  mixed  with 
blew,  which  was  a  very  goodly  sight:  the  Basket 
was  round,  and  narrow  at  the  top,  it  held  about 
three  or  foure  Bushels,  which  was  as  much  as  two 
of  us  could  lift  up  from  the  ground,  and  was  very 
handsomely  and  cunningly  made;  But  while  wee 
were  busie  about  these  things,  we  set  our  men 
Sentinell  in  a  round  ring,  all  but  two  or  three  which 
digged  up  the  corne.1  We  were  in  suspence  what 

using  the  survivors  worse  than  slaves,  two  of  them  being  re 
deemed  by  Captain  Dermer. 

JThe  placing  of  the  "Sentinells  in  a  round  ring"  was  a 
significant  performance.  It  was  probably  a  case  of  con 
science,  not  unlike  that  which  prompted  them  to  apologize 
one  to  another  by  saying  they  would  make  their  plundering 
good  to  the  savage  owners  of  the  corn  if  they  could  "come  to 
a  parley  with  them."  The  English  began  their  career  at 
Plymouth  by  plundering  the  natives  of  the  fruits  of  their  toil, 
violating  their  sepulchers,  and  robbing  them  of  their  utensils. 
Afraid  of  interruption  at  their  surreptitious  occupation,  their 
desire  for  acquisition,  whetted  to  a  keen  edge  by  the  sight  of 
that  "little  old  Basket  full  of  Faire  Indian  Corne"  undoubt 
edly  suggested  a  barrier  of  sentinels.  The  only  excuse  pos 
sible  for  this  outrageous  trespass  is  the  possible  danger  they 
might  be  in  from  starvation,  once  the  Mayflower  had  turned 
her  prow  toward  England;  but,  unsatisfied  with  this  accom- 

[93] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

to  doe  with  it,  and  the  Ketle  and  at  length,  after 
much  consultation,  we  concluded  to  take  the  Ketle, 
and  as  much  Corne  as  we  could  carry  away  with 
us;  and  when  our  Shallop  came,  if  we  could  find 


plishment,  they  had  it  in  mind  to  prosecute  their  search  at 
another  time  for  more  of  the  savages'  provender. 

The  early  settlers  followed  the  custom  of  the  Indian  in 
keeping  such  of  his  crops  as  were  to  be  wintered  in  excava 
tions  in  the  ground.  The  author  has  within  his  own  recollec 
tion  two  or  three  cellars  which  were  dug  into  the  dry  hillside 
and  walled  up  with  rough  stone,  pointed  with  clay  from  some 
neighboring  meadow.  They  were  common  before  it  became 
the  general  custom  to  dig  cellars  for  their  houses. 

As  for  the  Indians,  one  finds  this  in  Force's  Tracts,  vol.  ii., 
v.,  p.  30,  New  English  Canaan:  "Their  Barnes  are  holes 
made  in  the  earth,  that  will  hold  a  hogshead  of  corne  a  peece 
in  them.  In  these  (when  their  corne  is  out  of  the  huske  and 
well  dried)  they  lay  their  store  in  greate  baskets  (which  they 
make  of  Sparke)  with  matts  under  about  the  sides  and  on 
top:  and  putting  it  into  the  place  made  for  it,  they  cover  it 
with  earth ;  and  in  this  manner  it  is  preserved  from  destruction 
or  putrif action ;  to  be  used  in  case  of  necessity,  and  not  else." 

Freeman  says,  "The  ears  had  been  doubtless  reserved  by 
the  Indians  for  seed." 

Civilization  and  Barbarism,  p.  28,  foot-note. 

The  same  custom  has  always  prevailed  among  the  New 
England  farmers  to  select  their  seed  ears  as  they  husked,  on 
which  they  left  a  few  husks  by  which  they  were  braided  into 
trusses  and  hung  in  the  cool,  dry  places  about  the  farmhouse 
beyond  the  reach  of  mice  and  squirrels.  The  early  settler 
attended  the  agricultural  school  of  the  savage,  whose  meth 
ods  hold  good  to  this  day. 

[94] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

any  of  the  people,  and  come  to  parley  with  them,  we 
would  give  them  the  Ketle  againe,  and  satisfie 
them  for  their  Corne,  so  we  tooke  all  the  eares  and 
put  a  good  deale  of  the  loose  Corne  in  the  Ketle  for 
two  men  to  bring  away  on  a  staffe;  besides  they  that 
could  put  any  into  their  Pockets  -filled  the  same;  the 
rest  we  buried  for  we  were  so  laden  with  Armour 
that  we  could  carry  no  more"  l 

Not  finding  their  way  to  the  ship,  as  they  had 
anticipated,  they  were  again  overtaken  by  the  dark 
ness,  whereupon  they  built  a  barricade  and  set 
their  guard  as  the  night  before.2  The  following  day 
they  got  back  to  the  Mayflower.  Bradford  takes 
occasion  to  remark,  "And  so  like  ye  men  from 
Escholl  carried  with  them  of  ye  fruits  of  ye  land,  & 

1The  italics  are  the  author's.  The  question,  "Did  the 
Pilgrims  Wrong  the  Indians?"  in  the  Congregational  Quar 
terly.,  vol.  i.,  pp.  129-135,  being  a  justification  of  the  Pilgrims, 
has  this:  "This  was  indicative  of  the  spirit  of  fairness  with 
which  the  Pilgrims  of  Plymouth  always  acted  towards  the 
aboriginal  owners  of  the  soil." 

Any  right  "  spirit  of  fairness"  would  have  impelled  the 
Pilgrims  to  leave  the  corn  as  they  found  it.  In  honesty,  there 
was  no  other  way.  But  their  leader  was  a  graduate  of  the 
Wars  of  the  Low  Country,  where  plunder  was  a  soldier's  pay. 
No  amount  of  specious  deduction,  no  veneer  of  heroics 
framed  in  a  series  of  lean  days,  can  change  the  fact.  The 
white  man  was  the  cupidious  oppressor  of  the  Indian  from 


2  Bradford  describes  this  shelter:  "So  they  made  them  a 
barricade  (as  usually  they  did  every  night)  with  loggs,  staks, 

[95]  " 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

showed  their  breethren;  of  which,  &  their  returne, 
they  were  marvelusly  glad,  and  their  harts  in- 
couraged. 

"After  this,  ye  shalop  being  gott  ready,  they  set 
out  againe  for  ye  better  discovery  of  this  place,  &  ye 
mr.  of  ye  ship  desired  to  goe  him  selfe,  so  ther  went 
some  30.  men,  but  found  it  to  be  no  harbor  for 
ships  but  only  for  boats;  ther  was  allso  found  2.  of 
their  houses  covered  with  matts,  &  sundrie  of  their 
implements  in  them,  but  ye  people  were  rune  away 
&  could  not  be  seen;  also  ther  was  found  more  of 
their  corne,  &  of  their  beans  of  various  collours. 
The  corne  &  beans  they  brought  away,  purposing 
to  give  them  full  satisfaction  when  they  should 
meete  with  any  of  them  (as  about  some  6.  months 
afterward  they  did,  to  their  good  contente)."1 


&  thike  pine  bowes,  ye  height  of  a  man,  leaving  it  open 
to  leeward,  partly  to  shelter  them  from  ye  could  wind  (making 
their  fire  in  ye  middle  round  aboute  it) ,  and  partly  to  defend 
them  from  any  sudden  assaults  of  ye  savages,  if  they  should 
surround  them." 

Bradford,  Plymouth  Plantation,  p.  84. 

1  The  only  recompense  the  English  made  for  the  corn  and 
beans  of  which  they  possessed  themselves  during  the  forages 
of  the  preceding  November  seems  to  have  been  the  return  of 
the  kettle  to  Massasoit  filled  with  peas,  which  was  very 
pleasing  to  the  sachem.  This  incident  was  consummated 
upon  Massasoit's  first  visit  to  the  Plymouth  settlers,  about 
the  22d  of  March,  1621,  which  was  a  few  days  after  the  first 
appearance  of  Samoset. 

[96] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

Bradford  continues:  "But  the  Lord  is  never 
wanting  unto  his  in  their  greatest  needs;  let  his 
holy  name  have  all  ye  praise."  This  proceeding 
on  the  part  of  the  Pilgrims  was  a  spoiling  of  the 
Egyptians,  and  to  them  justified  by  Biblical  prec 
edent. 

On  this  second  foray  they  found  another  place 
"like  a  grave,  only  it  was  bigger  and  longer  than 
we  had  seen.  It  was  also  covered  with  boords,  so 
we  mused  what  it  should  be  and  resolved  to  digge 
it  up."  What  blunted  sensibilities  these  adven 
turers  —  for  such  they  had  become  among  these 
wilderness  woods — must  have  possessed  in  this  dis 
turbing  and  despoiling  of  these  strange  resting- 
places  of  the  dead,  which  should  have  been  sacred 
to  any  but  a  barbarian!  These  English  had  no 
compunctions,  and  so  they  kept  on  with  their  dig 
ging,  without  respect  to  the  traditions  or  the  feel 
ings  of  the  people  who  had  here  performed  the 
last  rites  in  accordance  with  their  customs.  There 
was  certainly  nothing  of  a  propitiatory  character 
toward  the  native  in  this  desecration. 

Mourt  goes  on:  "We  found  first  a  Matt,  and 
under  that  a  fayre  bow,  and  ther  another  Matt, 
and  under  that,  a  boord  about  three  quarters  [of  a 
yard]  long,  finely  carved  and  painted,  with  three 
tines  or  broches  [a  broche  is  a  spit  on  which  meats 
are  roasted;  the  description  being  suggestive  of  a 
trident,  as  if  the  deceased  had  been  a  sailor]  on 
the  top  like  a  Crowne;  also  betweene  the  Matts  we 

[97] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

found  Boules,  Trayes,  Dishes  and  such  like  Trink 
ets;  at  length  we  came  to  a  faire  new  Matt,  and 
under  that  two  Bundles,  the  one  bigger,  and  the 
other  lesse,  we  opened  the  greater  and  found  in  it  a 
great  quantitie  of  fine  and  perfect  red  Powder,  and 
in  it  the  bones  and  skull  of  a  man.  The  skull  had 
fine  yellow  haire1  still  on  it,  and  some  of  the  flesh 

1  Thomas  Morton,  who  was  such  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  the 
Plymouth  Colony,  mentions  some  Frenchmen  who  were 
captured  by  the  savages  anterior  to  the  settlement  at  Plymouth. 
He  says:  "It  fortuned  some  yeares  before  the  English  came 
to  inhabit  at  new  Plimoth  in  New  England,  that,  upon  distast 
given  in  the  Massachusets  Bay  by  Frenchmen,  then  trading 
there  with  the  natives  for  beaver,  they  set  upon  the  men,  at 
such  advantage,  that  they  killed  manie  of  them,  burned  their 
shipp,  then  riding  at  anchor  by  an  island  there,  now  called 
Peddock's  Island,  in  memory  of  Leonard  Peddock  that  landed 
there,  (where  manie  wilde  anckies  [some  sort  of  animal] 
haunted  that  time,  which  hee  thought  had  been  tame,)  dis 
tributing  them  unto  five  sachems  which  were  lords  of  the 
severall  territories  adjoyning,  they  did  keep  them  so  long  as 
they  lived,  only  to  sport  themselves  at  them,  and  made  these 
five  Frenchmen  fetch  them  wood  and  water,  which  is  the 
generall  worke  they  require  of  a  servant.  One  of  these  five 
men  outliving  the  rest,  had  learned  so  much  of  their  language, 
as  to  rebuke  them  for  their  bloudy  deed:  saying  that  God 
would  be  angry  with  them  for  it;  and  that  he  would  in  his 
displeasure  destroy  them ;  but  the  salvages  (it  seems,  boasting 
of  their  strength)  replyed,  and  said,  that  they  were  so  many 
that  God  could  not  kill  them." 

Morton's  New  Canaan,  pp.  22,  23. 

Captain  John  Smith  has  the  same  story. 

[98] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

unconsumed;  there  was  bound  up  with  it  a  knife, 
a  packneedle,  and  two  or  three  old  iron  things.  It 
was  bound  up  in  a  Saylers  canvas  Casacke  [coarse 
frock,  or  blouse]  and  a  payre  of  cloth  breeches; 
the  red  Powder  was  a  kind  of  Embaulment,  and 
yeelded  a  strong,  but  no  offensive  smell;  It  was  fine 
as  any  flower.  We  opened  the  lesse  bundle  like 
wise,  and  found  some  of  the  same  Powder  in  it, 
and  the  bones  and  head  of  a  little  childe,  about  the 
leggs,  and  other  parts  of  it  was  bound  with  strings, 
and  bracelets  of  fine  white  Beads;  there  was  also 
by  it  a  little  Bow,  about  three  quarters  long  and 
some  other  odd  knacks;  we  brought  sundry  of  the 
pretiest  things  away  with  us,  and  covered  the  Corps 
up  againe."1 

1What  a  meanly  base  and  thoroughly  contemptible  pro 
ceeding,  which  in  these  days  would  be  punished  as  an  inex-  * 
cusable  vandalism!  Standish,  the  captain  of  the  band,  may 
be  considered  as  somewhat  calloused;  but  for  Carver,  Brad 
ford,  Winslow,  and  others  of  the  conscience  of  the  new  settle 
ment  to  allow  themselves  to  become  parties  to  so  execrable 
an  enterprise  is  difficult  to  understand.  What  the  natives 
may  have  thought  of  the  matter  is  only  conjecturable.  It  was 
iconoclastic  to  a  degree,  and  smacks  of  a  heathenism  on  a  par 
with  the  marooning  of  a  hundred  poor  sailors  at  Pamlico  by 
the  English  buccaneer,  Hawkins,  in  1567. 

The  Indian  had  a  great  veneration  for  the  burial-places  of 
his  people.  The  mat  upon  which  the  deceased  died,  his  dish 
out  of  which  he  was  wont  to  eat  and  drink,  were  placed  upon 
his  grave.  No  Indian  would  meddle  with  them;  for  they  were 
consecrated  to  the  use  of  the  dead,  and  if  they  should  be  taken 

[99] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

Comment  is  needless,  and  it  is  no  wonder  they 
felt  moved  to  surround  themselves  at  night  with  a 
barricado,  and  as  well  to  post  sentinels.  It  is  to  be 
apprehended  that  the  bold  Captain  Standish  might 
have  been  the  moving  spirit  in  this  ghoulish  cu 
riosity. 

While  they  were  speculating,  some  one  and  some 
another,  as  to  the  former  pretensions  of  the  occu 
pant  of  this  grave,  "two  of  the  Saylers,  which  were 
newly  come  on  the  shore,  by  chance  espied  two 
houses  [wigwams],  which  had  been  lately  dwelt  in, 

away  the  departed  spirit  might  be  compelled  to  go  naked  and 
hungry  in  the  other  world. 

Key,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll,  vol.  iii.,  p.  237. 

Washington  Irving  says:  " Indians  are  remarkable  for  the 
reverence  which  they  entertain  for  the  sepulchers  of  their 
kindred.  Tribes  exiled  for  generations  from  the  former 
abode  of  their  ancestors,  have  been  known  to  turn  aside  from 
the  highway,  and  guided  by  wonderfully  accurate  tradition, 
have  crossed  the  country  perhaps  for  miles,  to  some  locality, 
—  perhaps  hill,  buried  in  woods,  where  the  ashes  of  their 
tribe  were  originally  deposited,  and  have  there  passed  hours 
in  silent  meditation. 

"'In  early  records  may  be  seen  that  planters  at  Passongesit 
having  defaced  monuments  of  the  dead,  and  plundered  the 
grave  of  a  Sachem's  mother  of  some  skins  with  which  the 
grave  had  been  decorated,  the  Sachem,  influenced  by  sublime 
and  holy  feeling,  gathered  his  men  and  addressed  them  in 
simple  and  pathetic  language  of  filial  piety  and  Indian  elo 
quence.'  We  may  not  quote  his  whole  speech,  but  the  gist  of 
it  is,  that  he  dreamed  his  mother  came  and  reproached  him 
for  allowing  the  desecration." 

[100] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

but  the  people  were  gone.  They  having  their 
peeces,  and  hearing  nobody  entered  the  houses, 
and  tooke  out  some  things,  and  durst  not  stay,  but 
came  again  and  told  us;  so  some  seven  or  eight  of 
us  went  with  them,  and  found  how  we  had  gone 
within  a  slight  shot  of  them  before." 

Mourt  goes  on  to  describe  what  they  found  in 
the  houses,  adding,  "Some  of  the  best  things  we 
tooke  away  with  us,  and  left  the  houses  standing 
as  they  were,  for  it  was  growing  towards  night  and 
the  tyde  almost  spent,  we  hasted  with  our  things 
downe  to  the  Shallop,  and  got  aboard  that  night, 
intending  to  have  brought  some  Beades  and  other 
things  to  have  left  in  the  houses,  in  sign  of  Peace, 
and  that  we  meant  to  truck  with  them,  but  it  was 
not  done  by  meanes  of  our  hastie  comming  away 
from  Cape  Cod,  but  so  soone  as  we  can  meete  con 
veniently  with  them,  we  will  give  them  full  satis 
faction." 

Always  throwing  a  sop  to  their  consciences,  the 
Pilgrim  marauders  never  found  opportunity,  by 
any  record  of  the  transaction  we  have  seen,  to 
make  their  promises  good,  even  to  themselves.  The 
expedition  which  they  contemplated  in  order  to 
square  their  consciences — for  it  is  evident  they  were 
possessed  of  some  sensing  of  the  law  of  meum  et 
tuum — never  was  accomplished.  The  return  of  the 
kettle  taken  in  the  first  expedition,  a  modicum  of 
peas  for  the  bushels  of  corn  appropriated,  a  scarlet 
"horseman's  coat,"  and  a  copper  chain,  all  of 

[101] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

which  went  to  Massasoit,  proved  the  limit  of  the 
restitution  on  the  part  of  the  English.  This  ap 
parently  was  their  contribution  to  the  "good  con- 
tente"  of  the  savages.1 

On  the  sixth  day  of  December,  O.  S.,  following, 
the  English  set  out  upon  an  exploring  expedition 
which  led  them  into  Wellfleet  Bay.  Of  this  com 
pany  were  Carver,  Bradford,  Standish,  Winslow, 
and  six  others.  Their  errand  was  to  find,  if  pos- 

1  Baylie  says,  on  the  occasion  of  the  visit  of  the  English  to 
the  Nausets  on  account  of  the  Billington  boy  straying  away, 
they  finding  him  there:  "The  English  performed  an  act  of 
justice  by  making  ample  satisfaction  for  the  corne  which  they 
had  taken  away  during  the  preceding  year." 

Baylie,  History  of  New  Plymouth,  p.  78. 

The  only  mention  Mourt  makes  of  the  matter  is:  "And  one 
of  those  whose  Corne  we  had  formerly  found,  we  promised 
him  in  restitution  &  desired  him  either  to  come  to  Patuxet 
(Plymouth)  for  satisfaction,  or  else  we  would  bring  them  so 
much  Corne  againe,  hee  promised  to  come,  wee  used  him  very 
kindly  for  the  present." 

Dexter's  Mourt' s  Relation,  p.  115. 

Bradford  says:  "Those  people  also  came  and  made  their 
peace;  and  they  gave  full  satisfaction  to  those  who  corne  they 
had  found  and  taken  when  they  were  at  Cap-Codd." 

Bradford,  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,  p.  124. 

Nothing  appears  after  this  to  show  that  any  of  the  Nausets 
went  to  Plymouth  "for  satisfaction."  Bradford's  narrative 
is  by  implication.  He  was  writing  of  what  occurred  at  Nauset. 
Mourt  is  direct,  and  while  Mourt  is  almost  photographic  in 
detail,  Bradford  is  often  disappointingly  meager. 

[102] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

sible,  a  more  satisfactory  place  whereon  to  lay  the 
foundations  of  their  settlement.  Landing,  they 
built  a  barricade,  for  it  was  almost  night  when 
they  reached  land,  setting  their  sentinels  as  usual. 
Some  four  or  five  miles  away  they  discovered  the 
smoke  of  a  camp-fire  "which  the  savages  made 
that  night."  In  a  cul-de-sac  of  the  bay  they  found 
parts  of  a  dead  grampus  which  had  been  cast  up 
on  the  shore.  The  Indians  had  begun  to  cut  it  up; 
but  upon  discovering  the  English  approaching, 
they  had  taken  a  hurried  departure.  The  English 
followed  their  trail  where  the  savages  had  "strucke 
into  the  woods  by  the  side  of  a  pond."  Instead  of 
savages,  or  even  a  wigwam,1  they  found  a  field  that 
had  at  some  time  been  set  to  corn;  also  a  "great 
burying-place  one  part  of  which  was  incompassed 
with  a  large  Palizado,  like  a  church-yard."  After 
ward,  they  came  to  some  wigwams  that  seemed  to 

"Their  houses  are  verie  little  and  homely,  being  made 
with  small  Poles  pricked  into  the  ground,  and  so  bended  and 
fastened  at  the  tops  and  on  the  sides  they  are  matted  with 
Boughes,  and  covered  on  the  Roofe  with  Sedge  and  old  Mats." 

New  England  Plantation,  Force,  vol.  i.,  xii.,  p.  13. 

"Their  doore  is  a  hanging  Mat  which  being  lift  up,  falls 
downe  of  it  selfe." 

Roger  Williams,  R.  I.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  i.,  p.  51. 

Another  description  of  an  Indian  interior  is  of  a  "lodge- 
house:"  "Their  lodging  is  made  in  three  places  of  the  house 
aboute  the  fire  they  lye  upon  plancks  commonly  aboute  a 
foote  or  18.  inches  above  the  ground  raised  upon  railes  that 

[103] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

have  been  sometime  abandoned,  and  some  mounds 
that  were  suggestive  of  hidden  treasures  of  corn. 
Mourt  says  they  found  "two  baskets  of  parched 
acorns  hidden  in  the  ground,  which  we  supposed 
had  been  Corne  when  we  beganne  to  digge  the 
same."1 

Finding  their  way  back  to  the  shore,  they  built  a 
barricade  of  logs.  Seeing  their  boat  safely  drawn 
up  in  the  creek,  they  settled  themselves  for  the 
night.  About  midnight  they  were  aroused  from 
their  slumbers  by  a  strange  noise,  a  "great  and 
hideous  cry,"  whereat  the  sentinels  gave  the  alarm. 
They  turned  out  the  guard,  which  meant  every 
body  in  the  party.  Mourt  says,  "So  we  bestirred 

are  borne  up  on  forks  they  lay  mats  under  them,  and  Coates 
of  Deares  skinnes  otters  beavers  Racownes  and  of  Beares 
hides,  all  which  they  have  dressed  and  converted  into  good 
lether  with  the  haire  on  for  their  coverings  and  in  this  manner 
they  lye  as  warme  as  they  desire." 

New  English  Canaan,  Force,  vol.  ii.,  v.,  p.  20. 

Vide  Gookin  and  Roger  Williams,  1  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol. 
i.,  p.  150. 

R.  I.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  i.,  p.  50. 

As  to  Indian  wigwams  see,  further,  R.  I.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  i., 
pp.  47-51;  Force,  vol.  ii.,  v.,  pp.  19,  20;  Mass.  Hist.  Coll., 
vol.  i.,  p.  149;  Schoolcraft's  Indian  Tribes,  etc.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  63, 
etc. 

"Akornes  also  they  dry,  and  in  case  of  want  of  Corne,  by 
much  boyling  they  make  a  good  dish  of  them :  yea  sometimes 
in  plentie  of  Corne  doe  they  eate  these  acornes  for  a  noveltie." 

Roger  Williams,  R.  I.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  i.,  p.  90. 

[104] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

ourselves  and  shot  off  a  couple  of  Muskets,  and 
noyse  ceased." 

At  daylight  they  were  up  and  at  their  devotions. 
Some  had  taken  their  muskets  to  the  boat,  or  had 
dropped  them  on  the  sand  under  some  of  their 
extra  clothing  (there  being  but  four  of  the  party 
who  had  their  weapons  by  them),  to  be  in  greater 
readiness  to  get  away.  Those  who  were  carrying 
the  armor  to  the  boat,  when  they  had  returned  to 
get  their  breakfast,  were  suddenly  surprised  by 
"a  great  and  straynge  cry,"  which  they  recognized 
as  the  same  by  which  they  had  been  alarmed  at 
midnight.  One  of  the  party  who  was  somewhat 
away  from  the  barricado  came  running,  his  feet 
shod  with  fear  and  his  lips  tremulous  with  the  cry 
of  "Indians!  Indians!"  A  flight  of  arrows  cut  the 
air,1  while  the  English  made  a  scramble  to  regain 
their  muskets  on  the  sands.  The  redoubtable 
Standish,  "having  a  snaphance  [a  flint-lock]  ready," 
made  a  shot  at  the  Indians  who  were  making  a 
sharp  encounter  with  those  who  had  run  to  the 
boat,  as  if  to  prevent  them  from  regaining  their 

1  Johnson,  in  his  Wonder-working  Providence  (2  Mass. 
Hist.  Coll.)  has  this:  "Now  the  Indians,  whose  dwellings  are 
most  neere  the  water-side,  appeared  with  their  Bowes  bent 
and  Arrowes  on  the  string,  let  fly  their  long  shafts  among  this 
little  company,  whom  they  might  soon  have  enclosed,  but  the 
Lord  otherwise  disposed  of  it,  for  one  Captaine  Miles  Standish 
having  his  fowling-peece  in  a  redinesse,  presented  full  at 
them,  his  shot  being  directed  by  the  provident  Hand  of  the 

[105] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

muskets.  Successful  in  gaining  their  weapons, 
they  opened  fire  from  the  boat.  The  tide  of  the 
battle  was  turned,  at  least  so  soon  as  one  whom  the 
English  took  to  be  the  leader  of  the  attacking  party 
was  wounded.  The  Indians  faded  away  as  silently 
as  they  had  come,  and  Mourt  says:  "Wee  followed 
them  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  but  wee  left  sixe 

most  high  God,  strook  the  stoutest  sachem  among  them  in 
the  right  arme,  it  being  bent  over  his  shoulder  to  reach  an 
arrow  forth  his  Quiver,  as  their  manner  is  to  draw  them  forth 
in  fight,  at  this  stroke  they  all  fled  with  great  swiftnesse 
through  the  Woods  and  Thickets,  then  the  English,  who  more 
thirsted  after  their  conversion  than  destruction,  returned 
to  their  Bote  without  receiving  any  damage." 

Mr.  Dexter,  in  a  note  to  Mourt's  Relation,  says  that  John 
son  gives  "no  clue  to  his  authority  for  this  statement." 
Dexter  questions  it. 

Bradford,  who  was  an  eye-witness,  does  not  mention 
Standish  particularly,  but  says,  "In  y6  mean  time,  of  those 
that  were  ther  ready,  tow  muskets  were  discharged  at  them,  & 
2.  more  stood  ready  in  y6  entrance  of  ther  randevoue,  but 
were  commanded  not  to  shoote  till  they  could  take  full  aime 
at  them." 

History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,  p.  103. 

"Samoset  afterwards  informed  the  Pilgrims  that  these 
were  Nauset  Indians,  and  that  their  hostility  was  occasioned 
by  the  fact  that  'one  Hunt'  had  previously  deceived  them, 
and  stolen  some  of  their  tribe,  and  sold  them  for  slaves." 

Dexter's  note,  Mourt's  Relation,  p.  54. 

The  sachem  Chikkataubut  was  the  instigator  of  this  at 
tack.  Of  the  graves  found  by  the  Plymouth  settlers,  which 
they  opened  and  rifled  with  their  usual  disregard  of  right  and 

[106] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

to  keepe  our  Shallop,  for  we  were  carefull  of  our 
business;  then  wee  shouted  all  together  severall 
times,  and  shot  off  a  couple  of  muskets  and  so  re- 
decency,  one  contained  the  body  of  the  mother  of  this  sachem. 
Over  the  body  was  set  a  stake.  Two  large  bear-skins,  sewed 
together  and  hung  to  the  stake,  were  spread  over  the  ground. 
These  were  appropriated  by  the  English  and  taken  away. 
When  the  sachem  learned  of  the  despoiling  of  his  mother's 
grave  he  complained  to  his  people  and  demanded  immediate 
vengeance.  He  was  undoubtedly  present  at  the  attack  at 
Nauset,  and  may  have  been  the  one  who  was  wounded. 

Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  44. 

There  is  no  mention  of  the  bear-skins  in  Mourt's  Relation. 

We  find  Chikkataubut's  alleged  harangue  to  his  people, 
whom  he  was  inciting  to  attack  the  English,  in  Morton's 
New  English  Canaan,  pp.  106,  107.  Here  it  is: 

"When  last  the  glorious  light  of  all  the  sky  was  underneath 
this  globe,  and  the  birds  grew  silent,  I  began  to  settle,  as  my 
custom  is,  to  take  repose.  Before  mine  eyes  were  fast  closed, 
me  tho't  I  saw  a  vision,  at  which  my  spirit  was  much  troubled, 
and  trembling  at  that  doleful  sight,  a  spirit  cried  aloud, 
*  Behold!  my  son,  whom  I  have  cherished;  see  the  paps  that 
gave  thee  suck,  the  hands  that  clasped  thee  warm,  and  fed  thee 
oft;  canst  thou  forget  to  take  revenge  on  those  wild  people, 
that  hath  my  monument  defaced  in  a  despiteful  manner; 
disdaining  our  ancient  antiquities,  and  honorable  customs. 
See  now  the  sachem's  grave  lies  like  unto  the  common  people, 
of  ignoble  race  defaced.  Thy  mother  doth  complain,  im 
plores  thy  aid  against  this  theivish  people  new  come  hither; 
if  this  be  suffered,  I  shall  not  rest  in  quiet  within  my  ever 
lasting  habitation."3 

See  account  of  the  desecration  of  this  particular  grave, 
taken  from  Mourt,  on  p.  97  of  this  work,  ante. 

[107] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

turned:  this  wee  did  that  they  might  see  wee  were 
not  af rayed  of  them  nor  discouraged."  He  notes 
that  they  picked  up  eighteen  arrows;  that  they 
were  headed  with  "brass,  others  with  Hartshorne, 
&  others  with  Eagles'  clawes."1  Their  coats, 
which  hung  in  the  barricado,  were  "shot  through 
and  through."  They  named  the  locality  the  place 
of  The  First  Encounter.  In  the  light  of  subsequent 
events,  this  incident  may  be  taken  as  prophetic. 

The  settlement  of  new  Plymouth  was  established. 
Every  man  built  his  own  house,  and  as  soon  as  it 
was  ready  for  occupancy  he  left  the  ship  and  set 
up  his  household  goods  on  shore.  They  had  fin 
ished  their  storehouse,  and  much  of  their  property 
—  muskets  and  munitions  of  offence  and  defence  — 
were  there  stored.  The  common  house,  for  that 
was  their  designation  of  it,  in  some  unknown 

1  No  mention  is  here  made  of  what  seems  to  have  been  the 
commoner  arrow-heads  of  the  Indian  usage.  Perhaps  the 
Cape  Indians  were  not  able  to  get  flints  for  their  arrow-heads 
so  readily  as  the  more  easterly  tribes.  They  do  not  mention 
finding  the  flint  arrow-heads.  It  was  a  matter  of  skill  to 
mount  a  flint-headed  arrow. 

See  Schoolcraft,  History  of  Indian  Tribes,  vol.  iii.,  p.  467. 

Hutchinson  notes  that  after  the  English  came  the  savages 
pointed  their  arrows  with  brass,  fastening  them  to  a  small 
stick  six  or  eight  inches  long,  so  fashioned  that  it  could  be 
inserted  into  the  end  of  the  pithy  elder  which  they  "bound 
round  to  strengthen  it." 

History  of  Massachusetts,  vol.  i.,  p.  411. 

Mourt,  p.  55. 

[108] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

manner  caught  fire,  but  was  saved.  They  charged 
it  to  the  Indians.  Two  days  after,  on  February  16, 
an  alarm  was  raised  by  reason  of  one  of  their 
number  seeing  a  party  of  Indians  while  he  was  out 
after  game.  A  meeting  of  the  settlement  was  called, 
and  military  orders  were  established.  Miles  Stan- 
dish  was  chosen  captain,  and  to  him  was  given  full 
authority  in  military  matters. 

From  this,  on  to  the  same  day  of  the  following 
month,  the  savages  had  kept  away  from  the  Plym 
outh  people.  On  that  day,  however,  they  were 
surprised  by  the  unheralded  advent  among  them 
of  a  solitary  Indian,  whose  first  word  to  them 
was,  "Welcome!"  Mourt  says,  "He  very  boldly 
came  all  alone  and  along  the  houses  straight  to 
the  Randevous,  where  we  intercepted  him,  not 
suffering  him  to  goe  in,  as  undoubtedly  he  would, 
out  of  his  boldness,  hee  saluted  us  in  English,  and 
bad  us  well-come,  for  he  had  learned  some  broken 
English  amongst  the  Englishmen  that  came  to 
fish  at  Monchiggon,  and  knew  by  name  most  of 
the  Captaines,  Commanders,  &  Masters,  that  usu 
ally  come."  As  no  improvement  can  be  made 
on  the  relation  of  Mourt,  his  account  is  given  ver 
batim.  He  continues  his  description  of  the  great 
Samoset:1  "He  was  a  man  free  in  speech,  so  farre 
as  he  could  expresse  his  minde,  and  of  seemly 

1  Samoset  was  the  sachem  of  a  tribe  of  Indians  who  had 
their  habitat  about  the  Sagadahoc  River,  and  perhaps  to  the 

[109] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

carriage,  we  questioned  him  of  many  things,  as  he 
was  the  first  Savage  we  could  meete  withall;  He 
sayed  he  was  not  of  these  parts,  but  of  Morat- 
higgon  [Monhegan],  and  one  of  the  Sagamores  or 
Lords  thereof,  and  had  beene  8.  moneths  in  these 
parts,  it  lying  hence  a  dayes  sayle  with  a  great 
wind,  and  five  dayes  by  land;  he  discoursed  of  the 
whole  Country,  and  of  every  Province,  and  of  their 
Sagamores ,  and  their  number  of  men,  and  strength ; 
the  wind  beginning  to  rise  a  little,  we  cast  a  horse- 
eastward.  He  was  a  great  man  among  his  people,  and  a 
great  friend  of  Brown,  who  may  be  regarded  as  the  English 
pioneer  of  the  Pemaquid  country.  He  gave  Brown  a  deed  of 
a  very  extensive  tract  of  country,  which  included  a  large  part 
of  the  Pemaquid  peninsula,  of  which  in  these  days  Bristol 
may  be  regarded  the  most  important  town.  The  deed  was 
acknowledged  before  Abraham  Shurts,  who  has  been  called 
the  father  of  American  conveyancing.  The  jurat  which  ap 
pears  in  the  modern  conveyance  is  practically,  word  for 
word,  as  it  appears  in  Samoset's  deed  to  Brown.  When  the 
Indian  troubles  broke  out  in  Maine,  and  the  cabins  of  the 
settlers  were  involved  in  one  common  devastation,  Brown's 
dwelling  was  undisturbed.  It  was  not  long  after  this  generous 
gift  to  Brown  that  Samoset  disappears  from  local  history. 
What  became  of  him,  or  how  or  where  he  died,  is  involved  in 
obscurity.  He  was  the  Chesterfield  of  his  people,  a  whole 
hearted,  great-souled  savage.  But  perhaps  one  ought  not  to 
call  him  a  savage,  for  he  was  more  civilized  than  some  of  the 
English  with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  He  stands  out  among 
the  men  of  his  time  with  a  marvellous  distinctness.  For  a 
review  of  his  character  see  Sylvester's  Pemaquid,  Maine 
Pioneer  Settlements,  vol.  iv.,  pp.  186-196. 

[110] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

man's  coat  about  him,  for  he  was  starke  naked, 
onely  a  leather  about  his  wast,  with  a  fringe  about 
a  span  long,  or  little  more;  he  had  a  bow  &  2 
arrowes,  the  one  headed,  and  the  other  unheaded; 
he  was  a  tall  straight  man,  the  haire  of  his  head 
blacke,  long  behind,  onely  short  before,  none  on 
his  face  at  all;  he  asked  some  beere,  but  we  gave 
him  strong  water,  and  bisket,  and  butter,  and 
cheese,  &  pudding,  and  a  peece  of  a  mallard,  all 
which  he  liked  well,  and  had  been  acquainted  with 
such  amongst  the  English;  he  told  us  the  place 
where  we  now  live,  is  called,  Patuxet,1  and  that 

1  "Patuxet" —  elsewhere  as  Savage  (Appendix  to  Winthrop, 
vol.  ii.,  p.  478)  gives  it,  "Patackost"  ("  Patackoset  ?  ")  — is 
probably  of  a  different  derivation  from  "Pawtucket;"i.e.,  "at 
the  little  falls."  "Petuhqui,"  or  "Puttukque,"  signifying 
"round,"  is  a  common  element  in  Indian  nomenclature,  as  a 
preface  of  "rock,"  "hill,"  etc.  John  Smith  (1616)  gives  the 
name  "Accomack"  as  the  Indian  name  for  Plymouth  shore 
(3  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  vi.,  p.  119).  It  undoubtedly  had  its 
name  from  some  of  the  neighboring  Massachusetts  tribes :  per 
haps  tribes  further  north  or  east,  to  whom  the  country  around 
Cape  Cod  might  have  been  designated  as  the  "land  beyond," 
or  "on  the  other  side  of  the  bay."  Cotton  gives  it  the  name 
of  "Ompaum."  What  Indian  he  ever  knew  he  is  credited 
with  picking  up  among  the  natives  of  that  particular  locality 
(3  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  232).  Dexter  suggests  that  the 
name  is  of  later  origin  —  that  it  may  have  been  applied  to  the 
place  as  the  capital,  or  great  gathering-place,  of  the  colony,  sig 
nifying  "  place  of  tribute,"  or  of  " acknowledging  sovereignty." 
These  are  rather  fanciful  derivations,  which  go  to  show  how 
strenuously  one  will  sometimes  strive  for  the  unattainable. 

Mourt,  Dexter 's  edition,  p.  88. 

[in] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

about  foure  yeares  agoe,  all  the  Inhabitants  dyed 
of  an  extraordinary  plague,  and  there  is  neither 
man,  woman,  nor  childe  remaining,  as  indeed  we 
have  found  none,  so  as  there  is  none  to  hinder  our 
possession,  or  to  lay  claime  unto  it;  all  the  after- 
noone  we  spent  in  communication  with  him,  we 
would  gladly  have  beene  rid  of  him  at  night,1  but 
he  was  not  willing  to  goe  this  night,  then  we 
thought  to  carry  him  on  ship-boord,  wherewith  he 
was  well  content,  and  went  into  the  Shallop,  but 
the  winde  was  high  and  water  scant,  that  it  could 
not  returne  backe:  we  lodged  him  that  night  at 
Steven  Hopkins  house,  and  watched  him;  the  next 
day  he  went  backe  to  the  Massasoits,  from  whence 
he  sayed  he  came,  who  are  our  next  bordering 
neighbors:  they  are  sixty  strong,  as  he  sayth." 

Saturday  morning  following,  the  English  gave 
Samoset  a  knife,  a  bracelet,  and  a  ring,  and  he 
left  them,  promising  to  bring  some  of  the  Massa- 
soits  [Wampanoags]  with  some  furs,  as  Mourt  says, 
"to  trucke  with  us." 

1  This  does  not  lead  one  to  infer  that  the  spirit  of  hospitality 
was  equal  to  the  pretensions  of  the  Plymouth  settlers.  They 
were  evidently  over-suspicious,  else  they  were  poor  judges  of 
character.  Samoset's  quiet  and  gentlemanly  approach  should 
have  disarmed  them  at  once.  Even  when  he  was  housed 
under  Hopkins's  roof  they  set  a  watch  upon  him,  which  in 
any  other  Indian  would  have  aroused  a  deep  resentment. 
Samoset  was  too  noble  to  entertain  any  feeling  of  that  sort, 
and  repaid  their  treatment,  at  best  of  the  perfunctory  sort 

[112] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

Samoset  came  back  to  them  the  following  day, 
and  with  him  "five  other  tall  proper  men,  they  had 
every  man  a  Deeres  skin  on  him,  and  the  principall 
of  them  had  a  wild  Cats  skin,  or  such  like,  on  one 
arme;  they  had  most  of  them  long  hosen  up  to 
their  groynes,  close  made;  and  aboue  their  groynes 
to  their  wast  another  leather,  they  were  altogether 
like  Irish-irouses ;  they  are  of  complexion  like  our 
English  Gipseys,  no  haire  or  very  little  on  their 
faces,  on  their  heads  long  haire  to  their  shoulders, 
onely  cut  before,  some  trussed  up  before  with  a 
feather,  broad  wise,  like  a  fanne,  another  a  fox 
tayle  hanging  out:  These  left,  (according  to  our 
charge  given  before)  their  Bowes  and  Arrowes  a 
quarter  of  a  myle  from  our  Towne,  we  gave  them 
entertaynment  as  we  thought  was  fitting  them,  they 
did  eate  liberally  of  our  English  victuals,  they  made 
semblance  unto  us  of  friendship  and  amitie;  they 
song  &  danced  after  their  maner  like  Anticks; 
they  brought  with  them  in  a  thing  like  a  Bow- 
case  (which  the  principall  of  them  had  about  his 
wast)  a  little  of  their  Corne  pownded  to  Powder, 


(the  underlying  motive  was  to  use  him  as  a  go-between  to  the 
Wampanoags,  that  they  might  engage  in  some  sort  of  dicker 
with  that  tribe),  by  making  them  acquainted  with  the  great 
Massasoit,  to  whose  friendship  they  were  most  deeply  in 
debted  for  the  opportunity  to  perfect  their  little  common 
wealth.  This  relation,  in  which  Bradford  coincides,  does  not 
show  a  very  broad  sense  of  humanitarianism. 

[113] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

which  put  to  a  little  water  they  eate;1  he  had  a  little 
Tobacco  in  a  bag,  but  none  of  them  drunke 
(smoked)  but  when  he  listed,  some  of  them  had 
their  faces  paynted  black,  from  the  forehead  to  the 
chin,  foure  or  five  fingers  broad;  others  after  other 
fashions,  as  they  liked;  they  brought  three  or  foure 
skins,  but  we  would  not  trucke  with  them  at  all  that 
day  (Sunday) ,  but  wished  them  to  bring  more,  and 
we  would  trucke  for  all,  which  they  promised  within 
a  night  or  two,  and  would  leave  these  behind  them, 
though  we  were  not  willing  they  should,  and  they 
brought  us  all  our  tooles  againe  which  were  taken 
in  the  Woods,2  in  our  mens  absence,  so  because  of 


"Nokechick,  a  parch'd  meal,  which  is  a  readie  very  whole 
some  food,  they  eate  with  a  little  water,  hot  or  cold;  I  have 
travelled  with  neere  200  of  them  at  once,  neere  100  miles 
through  the  woods,  every  man  carrying  a  little  Basket  of  this 
at  his  back,  and  sometimes  in  a  hollow  Leather  Girdle  about 
his  middle,  sufficient  for  a  man  for  three  or  four  daies.  With 
this  ready  provision,  and  their  Bow  and  Arrowes,  they  are 
readie  for  War  and  travell  at  an  houres  warning.  With  a 
spoonfull  of  this  meale,  and  a  spoonfull  of  water  from  the 
Brooke,  have  I  made  many  a  good  dinner  and  supper." 

Roger  Williams,  R.  I.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  i.,  p.  13. 

2  Some  tools  which  the  settlers  left  in  the  woods  where  they 
had  been  at  work  were  taken  by  the  Indians.  Samoset  said 
the  Nausets,  who  were  at  the  southeast  of  the  Plymouth 
settlement,  were  ill-affected  against  the  English.  It  was 
among  these  people  that  Thomas  Hunt,  master  of  a  ship  in 
Captain  Smith's  company,  made  his  infamous  kidnapping 
raid.  These  were  sold  as  slaves  in  Spain.  The  Brief  Relation 

[114] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

the  day  we  dismissed  them  so  soone  as  we  could. 
But  Samoset,  our  first  acquaintance,  eyther  was 
sicke,  or  fayned  himselfe  so,  and  would  not  goe 
with  them,  and  stayed  with  us  till  Wednesday 
morning:  Then  we  sent  him  to  them,  to  know  the 
reason  why  they  came  not  according  to  their  wrords, 
and  we  gave  him  a  hat,  a  pay  re  of  stockings  and 
shooes,  a  shirt,  and  a  peece  of  cloth  to  tie  about 
his  wast." 

Another  interruption  by  the  Indians  occurred 
that  same  day,  the  savages  making  signs  of  de 
fiance;  but  they  disappeared  when  Captain  Stan- 
dish  and  another,  with  their  muskets,  appeared, 
along  with  two  other  of  the  settlers  who  were  un 
armed,  who  kept  them  company,  in  answer  to  their 
challenge.  The  following  Thursday,  a  "very 
fayre  warme  day,"  about  noon,  Samoset,  and 
Squanto,  the  only  native  of  Patuxet,1  made  their 
appearance  at  the  settlement.  Squanto  could 

of  the  President  and  Council  for  New  England  states  that 
"the  friars,  when  it  was  found  whence  these  slaves  were 
come,  took  some  of  them  and  instructed  them  in  the  Christian 
faitho  Some  got  over  to  England  and  proved  of  great  service 
to  Gorges  and  others." 

Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xix.,  p.  6;  vol.  xxvi.,  pp.  58,  61,  132. 

1  Squanto  (Squantum,  Tisquantum,  Tasquantum)  was,  as 
Dexter  says,  undoubtedly  one  of  the  five  Indians  who  were 
kidnapped  and  taken  to  England  by  Capt.  George  Weymouth 
in  the  mid-summer  of  1605,  when  he  left  the  mouth  of  the 
Sagadahoc,  as  he  set  out  on  his  return  voyage  to  that  country. 

[115] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

speak  English,  and  told  the  English  that  Massa- 
soit  "was  hard  by,  with  Quadequina  his  brother, 
and  all  their  men.  They  could  not  well  express  in 
English  what  they  would,  but  after  an  houre  the 

He  (Squanto)  may  have  come  back  to  America  and  have 
been  kidnapped  a  second  time  by  Hunt.  There  is  some  con 
fusion  as  to  the  times  of  these  occurrences,  and  the  narrative 
of  his  adventures  is  somewhat  confusing. 

This  was  his  first  appearance  to  the  English.  He  at  once 
assured  them  of  his  friendship  and  established  himself  as 
their  interpreter.  He  was  ambitious,  inclined  to  meddle,  not 
always  veracious,  and,  in  his  relations  to  Hobomocko,  some 
thing  of  an  lago.  He  was  a  born  mischief-maker,  a  self- 
constituted  ward-heeler  in  the  crude  politics  of  his  race. 

Mourt  says  he  was  the  only  remnant  of  the  Patuxet  tribe 
to  survive  the  plague,  which  is  possibly  due  to  his  being  out 
of  the  country.  For  a  time  he  dwelt  in  Cornhill,  London,  with 
Master  John  Slaine,  merchant.  This  plague  was  somewhat 
extensive  in  its  ravages.  Its  eastern  limit  was  in  the  Kennebec 
wilderness.  Its  southern  limit  was  Narragansett  Bay.  It  be 
gan  in  1617,  and  prevailed  some  three  years.  It  was  nearly 
abated  in  1619.  The  savages,  in  their  account  of  it,  say  the 
Indians  died  so  fast  "the  living  were  not  able  to  bury  the 
dead."  It  is  related  that  when  the  English  came  the  bones 
were  strewn  upon  the  ground.  This  Squanto  was  a  plotter, 
and  forfeited  his  life  in  1622  by  conspiring  to  destroy  that  of 
Massasoit.  Massasoit  demanded  Squanto,  that  he  might 
punish  him;  but  the  English  regarded  him  as  invaluable  to 
their  interests,  and  protected  him,  thereby  repudiating  the 
second  article  of  their  treaty  with  Massasoit.  Out  of  respect 
to  the  English,  Massasoit  would  not  seize  the  conspirator 
without  their  consent.  Massasoit  offered  the  English  his 
beaver-skins  for  Squanto,  and  sent  his  own  knife  for  the 
cutting  off  of  Squanto's  head  and  hands,  which  were  to  be 

[116] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

King  came  to  the  top  of  an  hill  over  against  us,  and 
had  in  his  trayne  sixtie  men,  that  wee  could  well 
behold  them,  and  they  us:  we  were  not  willing  to 
send  our  governour  to  them,  and  they  [were]  un 
willing  to  come  to  us,  so  Squanto  went  againe  unto 
him,  who  brought  word  that  wee  should  send  one 
to  parley  with  [them],  which  we  did,  which  was 
Edward  Winslow,  to  know  his  mind,  and  to  sig- 
nifie  the  mind  and  will  of  our  governour,  which 
was  to  have  trading  and  peece  with  him.  We  sent 
to  the  King  a  payre  of  Knives  and  a  Copper  chain, 
with  a  lewell  in  it.  To  Quadequina,  we  sent  like 
wise  a  Knife  and  a  lewell  to  hang  in  his  eare, 
withall  a  pot  of  strong  water,1  a  good  quantitie  of 

brought  to  him.  For  some  time  after,  Massasoit,  wearied  by 
the  pretences  of  the  English  in  the  matter,  seemed  to  frown 
on  the  latter,  as  they  complained. 

Squanto  was  the  pilot  in  the  voyage  to  Boston  Bay  in  the 
autumn  of  1621.  It  was  he  who  advised  robbing  the  Nane- 
pashemets  of  the  furs  they  offered  for  sale.  Drake  credits 
him  with  being  a  spy  on  the  English  in  the  interest  of  Corbi- 
tant,  the  Nauset  sachem.  If  it  were  so,  they  were  doubly 
duped  when  they  permitted  Squanto  to  escape  his  just  deserts 
at  the  hands  of  Massasoit.  The  English  kept  their  treaties 
when  it  was  for  their  interest;  when  it  was  an  indifferent 
matter  they  were  great  sticklers  for  justice.  It  made  a  differ 
ence  with  them  whose  bull  was  gored. 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  pp.  10,  13,  18,  21,  39. 

1  With  all  the  fine  conscience  of  the  Pilgrims,  barring  the 
manners  and  customs  of  the  times,  the  present  of  a  "pot  of 
strong  water"  to  an  unsophisticated  savage,  while  it  may 

[117] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

Bisket,  and  some  butter,  which  were  all  willingly 
accepted :  our  Messenger  made  a  speech  unto  him, 
that  King  James  saluted  him  with  words  of  love 
and  Peace,  and  did  accept  of  him  as  his  Friend  and 
Alie,  and  that  our  Governour  desired  to  see  him 
and  to  trucke  with  him,  and  to  confirme  a  Peace 
with  him,  as  his  next  neighbor :  He  liked  well  of  the 
speech  and  heard  it  attentively,  though  the  In 
terpreters  did  not  well  express  it;  after  he  had  eaten 
and  drunke  himselfe,  and  given  the  rest  of  his  com 
pany,  he  looked  upon  our  messengers  sword  and 
armour  which  he  had  on,  with  intimation  of  his 
desire  to  buy  it,  but  on  the  other  side,  our  mes 
senger  showed  his  unwillingness  to  part  with  it:  In 
the  end  he  left  him  custodie  of  Quadequina  his 
brother,  and  came  over  the  brooke,  and  some 
twentie  men  following  him,  leaving  all  their  Bowes 
and  Arrowes  behind  them.  We  kept  six  or  seven  as 
hostages  for  our  messenger;  Captaine  Standish  and 
master  Williamson1  met  the  King  at  the  brooke 
with  a  halfe  a  dozen  Musketiers,  they  saluted  him 
and  he  them,  so  one  going  over,  the  one  on  the  one 

have  been  a  most  hospitable  act,  was  from  the  appetite  for 
drink  which  not  long  after  began  to  possess  the  Indian,  and 
which  changed  his  character  in  many  respects,  as  well  as  his 
fortunes,  not  only  a  reprehensible  but  an  unfortunate  cour 
tesy. 

1  The  name  Williamson  does  not  appear  in  the  list  of  the 
Pilgrims.  It  is  probably  an  error.  John  Williams  had  died 
previous  to  this.  Dexter  regards  it  as  a  misprint. 

[118] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

side,  and  the  other  on  the  other,  conducted  him  to 
an  house  then  in  building,  where  we  placed  a  greene 
Rugge  and  three  or  foure  Cushions,  then  instantly 
came  our  Governour  with  Drumme  and  Trumpet 
after  him,  and  some  few  Musketiers.  After  saluta 
tions,  our  Governour  kissing  his  hand,  the  King 
kissed  him,  and  so  they  sat  downe.  The  Governour 
called  for  some  strong  water,  and  drunke  to  him, 
and  he  drunke  a  great  draught  that  made  him 
sweate  all  the  while  after,  he  called  for  a  little  fresh 
meate,  which  the  King  did  eate  willingly,  and  did 
give  his  followers.  Then  they  treated  of  Peace, 
which  was; 

"1.  That  neyther  he  nor  any  of  his  should  in 
jure  or  doe  any  hurt  to  any  of  our  people. 

"2.  And  if  any  of  his  did  hurt  to  any  of  ours, 
he  should  send  the  offender,  that  we  might  punish 
him. 

"3.  That  if  any  of  our  tooles  were  taken  away 
when  our  people  were  at  worke,  he  should  cause 
them  to  be  restored,  and  if  ours  did  any  harme  to 
any  of  his,  wee  would  do  the  like  to  them. 

"4.  If  any  did  unjustly  warre  against  him,  we 
would  ayde  him;  If  any  did  warre  against  us,  he 
should  ayde  us. 

"5.  He  should  send  to  his  neighbor  Confederates 
to  certifie  them  of  this,  that  they  might  not  wrong 
us,  but  might  be  likewise  comprised  in  the  condi 
tions  of  Peace. 

"6.  That  when  their  men  came  to  us,  they 
[119] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

should  leave  their  Bowes  and  Arrowes  behind 
them,  as  wee  should  doe  with  our  Peeces  when  we 
came  to  them.1 

"Lastly,  that  doing  thus,  King  lames  would 
esteem  of  him  as  his  friend  and  Alie:  all  which  the 
King  seemed  to  like  well,  and  it  was  applauded  of 
his  followers,  all  the  while  he  sat  by  the  Governour 
he  trembled  for  feare:  In  his  person  he  is  a  very 
lustie  man,  in  his  best  yeares  an  able  body,  grave 


n  the  application  of  Massasoit  and  his  son,  this 
"Auncient  league  and  confederacy"  was  renewed  by  the 
Plymouth  Court,  Sept.  25  (O.  S.),  1639. 

Morton,  New  England  Memorial,  p.  112. 

Plymouth  Colony  Records,  vol.  i.,  p.  133. 

With  Massasoit  this  was  a  sacred  compact,  and  one  most 
conscientiously  adhered  to  and  observed  during  his  lifetime. 
In  the  year  1632  he  was  attacked  by  the  Narragansett 
Canonicus.  Captain  Standish,  with  his  English  soldiers, 
made  a  summary  ending  of  this  conflict,  though  Massasoit 
expected  a  serious  war.  On  this  occasion  he  changed  his 
name  to  Owsamequin. 

Miantonomoh  had,  in  some  way,  obtained  possession  of  a 
portion  of  Massasoit's  domains,  so  that  the  Commissioners 
of  the  United  Colonies  in  the  autumn  of  1643  ordered  that 
"Plymouth  labor  by  all  due  means  to  restore  Woosamequin 
[Massasoit]  to  his  full  liberties,  in  respect  to  any  encroach 
ments  by  the  Nanohiggansetts,  or  any  other  natives;  so  that 
the  properties  of  the  natives  may  be  preserved  to  themselves, 
and  that  no  one  Sagamore  encroach  upon  the  rest  as  of  late: 
that  Woosamequin  be  reduced  to  those  former  terms  and  agree 
ments  between  Plymouth  and  him" 

Massasoit  had  already  sold  much  of  his  lands,  and  prac- 

[120] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

of  countenance,  and  spare  of  speech:  In  his  Attyre 
little  or  nothing  differing  from  the  rest  of  his  fol 
lowers,  only  in  a  great  Chaine  of  white  bone 
Beades  about  his  necke,  and  at  it  behinde  his 
necke,  hangs  a  little  bagg  of  Tobacco,  which  he 
dranke  (smoked)  and  gave  us  to  drinke;  his  face  was 
paynted  with  a  sad  red  like  murry,1  and  oyled  both 
head  and  face,  that  hee  looked  greasily:  All  his 
followers  likewise,  were  in  their  faces,  in  part  or  in 
whole  paynted,  some  blacke,  some  red,  some  yellow, 
and  some  white,  some  with  crosses,  and  other 
Antick  workes,  some  had  skins  on  them,2  and  some 
naked,  all  tall  strong  men  in  appearance:  so  after 
all  this  was  done,  the  Governour  conducted  him 

tically  all,  before  he  died.  He  was  living  in  1662  and  after 
the  death  of  his  son  Alexander.  He  may  have  died  that  year. 
The  actual  time  of  the  event  is  uncertain.  Hutchinson  fol 
lows  Hubbard,  giving  1656  as  the  year  of  Massasoit's  decease. 
He  is  clearly  in  error.  He  was  alive  in  1661,  when  Uneko 
attacked  one  of  his  villages,  killing  some  of  the  Wampanoags 
and  carrying  others  away  captive. 

Records,  United  Colonies. 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  pp.  25—27. 

*A  dark  red;  vide,  Latin,  morum,  mulberry.  "A  princely 
color." 

2  "They  make  shooes  of  Deeres  skinnes,  very  handsomely 
and  commodious,  and  of  such  deeres  skinnes  as  they  dress 
bare,  they  make  stockings  that  comes  within  their  shooes,  like 
stirrop  stockings,  and  is  fastened  above  at  their  belt  which 
is  about  their  middell.  .  .  .  Those  garments  they  always 
put  on  when  they  goe  a  hunting  to  keepe  their  skinnes  from 

[121] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 


[Massasoit]  to  the  Brooke,  and  there  they  em 
braced  each  other  and  he  departed."1 

We  have  been  thus  minute  in  following  Mourt 

the  brush  of  the  Shrubbs,  and  when  they  have  their  Appar- 
rell  one,  they  look  like  Irish  in  their  trouses,  the  Stockings 
join  so  to  their  breeches." 

Morton's  New  English  Canaan,  Force,  vol.  ii.,  v.,  p.  22. 

1It  is  on  this  part  of  Cape  Cod  that  Sir  Francis  Drake 
landed  in  1586.  Probably  Massasoit  was  not  then  born. 
Capt.  John  Smith  credits  Drake  with  giving  New  England  its 
name,  in  his  description  of  the  country  after  his  voyage  of 
1614.  Massasoit  makes  no  mention  of  seeing  other  English 
here  before  the  coming  of  the  Plymouth  settler.  Neither 
Gosnold  (1602)  nor  Dermer's  coming  in  1619  seems  to  have 
any  place  in  his  recollection.  Dermer  says  he  found  a  place 
which  had  been  inhabited,  but  nothing  more.  Massasoit' s 
silence  is  inexplicable  if  he  had  met  Dermer,  as  one  would 
infer  from  the  latter's  letter  of  Dec.  27  (O.  S.),  1619,  to 
Samuel  Purchas.  Dermer  writes:  "When  I  arrived  at  my 
savage's  (Squanto's)  native  country,  (finding  all  dead)  I 
travelled  alongst  a  day's  journey,  to  a  place  called  Nummasta- 
quyt,  where  finding  inhabitants,  I  despatched  a  messenger  a 
day's  journey  farther  west,  to  Pocanokit,  which  bordereth  on 
the  sea;  whence  came  to  see  me  two  kings,  attended  with  a 
guard  of  50  armed  men,  who  being  well  satisfied  with  that 
my  savage  and  I  discoursed  unto  them,  (being  desirous  of 
novelty)  gave  me  content  in  whatsoever  I  demanded ;  where  I 
found  that  former  relations  were  true.  Here  I  redeemed  a 
Frenchman,  and  afterwards  another  at  Masstachusit,  who 
three  years  since  escaped  shipwreck  at  the  north-east  of  Cape- 
Cod." 

Drake  makes  this  extract  from  Davis's  notes  to  Morton. 

See  Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  18. 

[122] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

for  the  reason  that  in  detail  he  is  almost  photo 
graphic,  and  as  well  that  in  his  Relation  is  found 
the  key  to  much  that  for  the  lack  of  his  story  would 
seem  somewhat  obscure.  The  hostile  meetings, 
though  unimportant,  comparatively,  between  the 
English  and  the  neighboring  savages,  punctuate 
Morton's,  or  Mourt's,  story  with  a  like  savage  sug 
gestion.  As  initial  movements,*  the  records  by 
both  Mourt  and  Bradford  are  of  tragic  importance. 
In  no  way  can  one  obtain  so  vivid  a  picture  of 
the  days  immediately  following  the  debarkation 
from  the  Mayflower  as  by  taking  their  story  in 
the  original. 

Massasoit  had  made  his  visit  of  state.  He  had 
taken  away  with  him  a  good  impression  of  the  new 
comers;  his  friendship  was  to  become  a  valuable 
asset  in  their  adventurous  enterprise;  nor  did  the 
English  value  it  at  its  present  worth,  else  they  had 
been  more  hospitably  forbearing.  From  the  human 
point  of  view,  the  Indian,  as  a  man,  was  always  to 
be  taken  at  a  usurious  discount  by  his  English 
neighbors.  It  was  a  policy-game  with  the  latter,  in 
which  the  savage  invariably  scored  a  blank;  a 
sort  of  rude  diplomacy  in  which  the  versatile  treach 
ery  of  the  savage  was  no  match  for  steel-hardened 
astuteness  and  alert  perspicuity,  both  of  which 
were  the  logical  sequences  of  an  Anglo-Saxon 
heredity.  From  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  the 
aborigine  was  doomed. 

The  Plymouth  people,  sometime  in  the  latter 
[123] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

part  of  June  of  this  year,  or,  it  may  have  been,  in 
the  early  days  of  July,  went  to  Pokonoket1  to  visit 
Massasoit,  who  received  them  with  every  mani 
festation  of  delight.  Two  days  of  Massasoit's 
meager  fare  was  the  limit  of  their  endurance  of 
savage  hospitality,  and  they  returned  to  Plymouth. 
It  was  about  this  time  that  a  boy  known  as  John 
Billington,  whose  father  afterward  was  the  subject 
of  the  first  public  execution  at  Plymouth,  was  lost 
in  the  woods.  He  was  out  after  berries  and  lost 
his  way,  to  finally  become  located  at  Nauset. 
Thither  the  English  went  after  him.  They  set  out 
from  Plymouth  in  their  shallop,  and  when  they 
had  come  into  Cummaquid  [Barnstable]  harbor 

'"Pokonoket"  ("Pakonokick,"  "  Pawkunnawkutt,"  etc.), 
unless  greatly  corrupted,  can  be  derived  only  from  pohkenai 
or  pogkeni,  "dark,"  and  ohkey  "land"  or  "place."  This  is 
directly  opposed,  in  its  literal  or  primary  signification,  to 
"wampan-ohke."  Eliot  has,  for  "brightness,  but  ...  in 
darkness"  (Isa.  lix.,  9),  "wompag,  gut  .  .  .  pohkenahtu." 
The  origin  of  the  name  is  open  to  conjecture.  "Wampan," 
signifying,  primarily,  "white"  or  "bright,"  was  used  figura 
tively  for  the  dawn,  and  the  region  of  light,  "the  east." 
Pohkenai,  "dark,"  may  have  been,  and  very  probably  was, 
similarly  used  for  the  place  of  sunset,  "the  west;"  though  it 
is  not  found  in  that  sense  in  Eliot  or  in  Roger  Williams.  If  so, 
"Pokonoket"  would  be  the  "west  country"  to  the  Plymouth 
tribes,  as  the  "east  country"  of  the  Narragansetts.  Or  the 
name  may  be  of  local  origin  —  from  the  color  of  the  soil,  the 
obscurity  of  the  forest,  or  other  suggestion  of  darkness. 

Dexter's  Mourt,  p.  102,  note. 

[124] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

they  dropped  anchor.1  Here  they  were  met  by 
some  of  the  Nausets.  Taking  four  of  the  savages 
into  their  shallop  to  be  retained  as  hostages,  they 
went  ashore  to  have  an  interview  with  lyanough, 
the  sachem  of  Cummaquid,  by  whom  they  were  at 
once  joined  on  their  further  voyaging  to  Nauset, 
where  the  Billington  boy  was  detained.  They  sent 
Squanto  overland  to  Aspinet,  the  Nauset  sachem, 
to  demand  young  Billington's  peremptory  return. 
This  accomplished,  they  returned  to  Cummaquid, 
having  "established  a  firm  peace  with  the  Indians 
of  that  region." 

It  was  during  this  voyage  they  learned,  probably 
through  Squanto,  who  in  some  manner  was  kept 
well-informed  of  the  attitude  of  the  neighboring 
tribes  toward  the  English,  that  the  Narragansetts 
had  attacked  Massasoit,  killed  some  of  the  Wam- 
panoags,  and  taken  Massasoit  away  as  a  captive. 
It  was  about  this  time  that  Hobbomok,  a  chief 
captain  of  Massasoit's,  and  a  savage  of  great  in 
tegrity  and  personal  bravery,  attached  himself  to 
the  English.2 


1  The  expedition  to  Nauset  was  undertaken  between  the 
end  of  July  and  the  middle  of  August. 

Prince,  New  England  Chronicles,  vol.  ii.,  p.  107. 

2  Hobbomok  was  a  celebrated   Paniese,  or  war-captain, 
also  a  trusted  favorite  of  Massasoit.    He  is  credited  by  the 
English  as  holding  Massasoit  to  their  interests  more  closely 
than  the  latter  would  have  consented  had  Hobbomok  been 

[125] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

Reaching  Plymouth,  they  also  learned  that 
Corbitant,  an  inferior  sachem  under  Massasoit, 
was  at  Namasket  for  the  purpose  of  arousing  the 
Wampanoags  of  that  section  against  the  English.1 
Anxious  for  the  fate  of  Massasoit,  Squanto  and 
Hobbomok  set  out  at  once  for  Namasket.  They 
gained  the  village  quietly,  but  were  discovered  by 
Corbitant,  who  attacked  the  wigwam  where  they 

otherwise  disposed.  It  was  through  Hobbomok  the  English 
learned  that  the  Massachusetts  were  inclined  to  enter  into  an 
offensive  alliance  with  the  Narragansetts  against  them.  He 
as  well  fathomed  the  duplicity  of  Squanto,  which  was  later 
more  than  once  made  apparent.  He  informed  the  people  at 
Plymouth  of  Squanto's  double-dealing,  and  Winslow  writes: 
"Thus  by  degrees  we  began  to  discover  Tisquantum  [Squanto], 
whose  ends  were  only  to  make  himself  great  in  the  eyes  of  his 
countrymen  by  means  of  his  nearnesse  and  favor  with  us,  not 
caring  who  fell,  so  he  stood." 

It  was  Squanto  who  put  the  Plymouth  settlement  into  great 
alarm  with  the  report  that  the  Narragansetts  were  coming 
with  Massasoit  to  destroy  the  settlement.  It  was  Hobbomok's 
wife  who  had  been  sent  to  Pokonoket  privately  and  who  there 
made  the  discovery  of  Squanto's  plot,  for  which  Massasoit 
demanded  of  Winslow  that  he  deliver  Squanto  to  him  for 
punishment.  Winslow  says,  "For  these  and  like  abuses,  the 
governour  sharply  reproved  him  [Squanto],  yet  he  was  so 
necessary  to  and  profitable  an  instrument,  as  at  that  time  we 
could  not  miss  him." 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  pp.  38,  39. 

Winslow's  Journal. 

Corbitant  lived  at  Mettapoisett.    He  was  much  like  Philip 

[126] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

were  lodged.  Corbitant  was  especially  incensed 
against  Squanto  by  reason  of  his  intimacy  with  the 
Plymouth  people,  and  threatened  him  with  his 
knife.  While  Squanto  was  struggling  for  his  life 
Hobbomok  escaped  and  made  his  way  directly  to 
Plymouth  with  the  news  that  their  interpreter  had 
undoubtedly  been  killed  by  Corbitant.  Standish 


in  his  character  and  disposition, —  cruel  and  treacherous; 
and  he  also  held  the  English  in  contempt  and  hated  them  as 
intruders,  and  was  ready  for  any  enterprise  which  would 
result  in  their  destruction  or  injury.  He  held  no  intimacies 
with  them,  nor  wished  for  their  friendship.  He  was  openly 
discourteous  when  in  their  company,  and  made  no  pretense 
of  concealing  his  enmity. 

In  1621,  mid-year,  he  was  mixed  up  in  a  conspiracy  with 
the  Narragansetts  to  accomplish  the  overthrow  of  Massasoit. 
He  liked  not  the  latter's  friendly  intimacies  with  the  English. 
He  determined  to  get  Squanto  and  Hobbomok  out  of  the  way, 
when  the  road  would  be  clear  to  operate  against  Massasoit, 
who,  though  mild  and  equable  in  his  disposition,  was  in  his 
prime  and  not  easily  to  be  overborne.  After  the  sortie  upon 
his  village  by  Standish  and  the  rescue  of  Squanto  (who  was 
supposed  later  to  have  had  some  relations  with  Corbitant 
inimical  to  the  interests  of  the  Plymouth  settlers) ,  which  was 
a  foretaste  of  the  energetic  action  likely  to  follow  any  inter 
ference  with  the  English  interests,  the  Nauset  sachem 
swallowed  his  choler  and  curbed  his  ambition  for  war  in  so 
far  that  he  made  his  appearance  at  the  Plymouth  settlement 
on  September  13,  the  same  year, —  just  thirty  days  after  his 
capture  of  Squanto, —  confessed  his  error,  and  made  his  peace. 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  28. 

[127] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

at  once  made  up  a  war  party  of  fourteen,1  and, 
setting  out  in  the  rain  through  the  woods  towards 
Namasket,  under  the  guidance  of  Hobbomok, 
they  broke  into  the  Indian  village  in  the  deep  of 
the  night  and  made  an  immediate  attack,  searching 
the  wigwams  for  Squanto,  to  discover  him  at  last, 
uninjured.  In  the  melee  three  of  Corbitant's  people 
were  wounded.  Corbitant  himself  succeeded  in 
escaping.  Standish,  assuming  that  the  story  of  the 
capture  of  Massasoit  was  true,  notified  those  of  the 
Nausets  who  remained  in  the  village  that  if  Massa 
soit  was  not  returned  at  once,  and  unharmed,  or  if 
Corbitant  should  incite  the  Wampanoags  to  fur 
ther  insurrection,  the  English  would  destroy  him. 
They  very  considerately  took  the  wounded  Indians 
with  them  to  the  Plymouth  settlement,  where  they 
were  soon  healed  and  sent  back  to  Mettapoisett. 

This  summary  action  on  the  part  of  the  English 
had  the  proper  effect.  It  was  made  to  appear  that 
the  story  of  Massasoit's  capture  and  the  foray  of 

1  Mourt  gives  the  number  of  men  sent  on  this  expedition  as 
ten:  "On  the  morrow  we  set  out  ten  men  Armed." 

Relation,  Dexter's  edition,  p.  120. 

Winslow  says,  "Whereupon  it  was  resolved  to  send  ye 
Captaine  &  14  men  well  armed,  and  to  goe  &  fall  upon  them 
in  y6  night." 

Journal,  p.  125. 

After  the  summary  disposition  of  Wittuwamett  and  Pek- 
suot  at  Wessagusset,  by  Standish,  Corbitant  is  lost  in  ob 
scurity. 

[128] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

the  Narragansetts  was  only  a  rumor.  Whether 
the  sore  went  deeper  than  the  surface,  the  touch  of 
Standish  at  Nauset  sufficed  to  sear  it.1 

The  report  of  this  incident  reached  the  ears  of 
the  Narragansett  sachem,  Canonicus,  who  at  once 
despatched  a  messenger  to  the  English  in  the  inter 
ests  of  peace.  The  savages  were  not  so  much  in 
timidated  by  the  muskets  of  the  English  as  they 
were  by  the  occult  powers  which  they  believed 
them  to  possess.  The  people  at  Plymouth  were 
credited  with  being  in  collusion  with  evil  spirits, 
and  having  the  power,  through  their  God,  to  bring 
upon  the  Indian  any  misfortune,  even  to  their  de 
struction,  at  will.2 

1This  agreement  was  the  result  of  the  raid  on  Nauset: 
"September  13,  Anno.  Dom.,  1621. 

"Know  all  men  by  these  presents  that  we,  whose  names 
are  underwritten,  acknowledge  ourselves  the  loyal  subjects 
of  King  James,  King  of  Great  Britain,  France  and  Ireland, 
defender  of  the  faith  &c.  In  witness  whereof  we  have  sub 
scribed  our  names  and  marks  as  followeth. 

Ocquamehud,          Nattawahunt,         Quadequina, 
Caunacone,  Corbitant,  Huttamoida, 

Obbatinua,  Chikkatabak,         Appanow." 

Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians;  also  Morton. 
Bradford's  Journal. 

2  To  avert  possible  calamity  which  the  English  might  send 
against  them,  the  Massachusetts  tribe  and  the  savages  of 
some  others  "got  all  the  Powows  [medicine-men  and  con 
jurors]  in  the  country,  who,  for  three  days  together,  in  a 
horrid  and  devilish  manner  did  curse  and  execrate  them  [the 

[129] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

They  remembered  the  plague  with  a  singular 
terror;  and,  as  well,  the  fact  that  it  followed  closely 
upon  the  heels  of  the  prophecy  and  death  of  the 
French  sailor  who  a  few  years  before  had  unfortu 
nately  fallen  into  their  hands,  and  through  them 
was  reduced  to  a  state  worse  than  slavery.  The 
Plymouth  people  had  heard  much  of  this  tribe  that 
was  situated  along  the  shores  of  Boston  Bay,  and 
whose  roaming-grounds  extended  even  to  the 
Piscataquis  River;  for  the  Massachusetts  were  a 
tribe  with  traditions.  They  were  not  friendly  to 
the  English,  but  indulged  in  many  hostile  threats 
which  had  come  to  the  ears  of  the  Plymouth  Col 
ony.  The  latter  determined  to  explore  the  country; 
and  so  it  happened,  after  the  submission  of  Corbi- 
tant  and  his  fellow  conspirators,  that  in  the  same 
month  of  September  Captain  Standish,  with  a 
force  of  twelve  white  men  and  three  Indians, 
Squanto  being  one  of  the  latter,  left  Plymouth  just 

English]  with  their  dismal  conjurations,  which  assembly  and 
service  they  held  in  a  dark  and  dismal  swamp.  Behold  how 
Satan  labored  to  hinder  the  Gospel  from  coming  into  New 
England!" 

Mourt's  Relation. 

In  those  days  the  settler  was  about  as  cracked  over  some 
things  as  was  the  poor  savage  over  others.  They  were  not 
unlike  the  savage  in  that  to  what  they  failed  to  understand 
they  attached  mysterious  and  supernatural  qualities  and 
powers.  It  was  the  imagination,  abnormally  developed,  of  a 
conscience-ridden  people. 

[130] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

before  midnight  on  an  ebb  tide,  hoping  to  reach 
Massachusetts  Bay  by  break  of  the  following  day.1 
The  light  wind  and  their  miscalculation  of  the  dis 
tance  so  retarded  their  voyage  that  they  did  not 
reach  Thompson's  Island  until  late  in  the  afternoon. 
At  this  place  they  dropped  anchor.  The  following 
morning,  early,  they  pulled  up  their  anchor  into 
the  shallop  and  bore  away  toward  what  is  now 
the  northern  part  of  Quincy,  which  came  to  take 
on  the  name  of  Massachusetts  Fields,  which  it  bore 
for  many  years.  They  had  not  only  come  to  spy 
out  the  land,  but  to  make  friends  with  its  people, 
who  were  then  but  the  remnant  of  a  once  powerful 
tribe.  The  plague  was  here,  as  elsewhere. 

On  the  edge  of  this  plain,  where  that  tribe  had 
its  common  meeting-place,  they  beached  their 
craft  opposite  the  Squantum  headland,  amid  a 
mingling  of  marsh  and  sandy  shore.  Here  they 
found  a  little  heap  of  lobsters  which  the  Indians 
had  collected,  and,  true  to  the  rough  traditions  of 
the  times,  the  voyagers  from  Plymouth  at  once 
forestalled  the  savages  by  making  their  morning 
meal  off  the  succulent  crustaceans.  Starting  on 
their  tour  inland,  they  met  an  Indian  woman  on 
her  way  after  the  lobsters.  Standish  had  the  grace, 
however,  to  tell  her  what  had  become  of  the  lob 
sters,  and  gave  her  some  slight  token  by  which  her 

1  The  distance  from  Plymouth  to  Boston  Harbor  was,  by- 
water,  about  forty-four  miles. 

[131] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

disappointment  was  appeased,  so  that  she  after 
ward  showed  them  the  way  to  the  sachem  of  her 
people,  Obbatinewat,  who  at  once  essayed  to  guide 
them  up  the  Mystic  at  the  other  side  of  the  bay, 
where  they  hoped  to  find  the  widow  of  Nanepashe- 
met,  the  squaw-sachem  of  the  Massachusetts  tribe. 
Finding  no  one  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mystic,  they 
spent  that  night  on  their  shallop.  The  following 
morning  they  in  part  pushed  forward  into  the 
country  now  known  as  Medford  and  Winchester. 
From  the  chronicles  of  the  Pilgrims  one  finds  the 
date  to  have  been  October  first,  (N.  S.),  and  one 
can  imagine  the  glory  of  the  autumn  woods  and 
the  mellow  atmosphere  that  kept  them  company. 
After  a  journey  of  some  three  or  four  miles  they 
came  upon  an  Indian  village,  deserted,  according 
to  the  narration.  A  little  farther  on  into  the  deepen 
ing  wilderness  they  came  upon  the  deserted  wig 
wam  of  Nanepashemet,  and  in  a  near-by  swamp 
his  rude  stockade.  "In  the  midst  of  this  Pallizade 
stood  the  frame  of  an  house,  wherein  being  dead 
he  lay  buryed." *  Not  long  before  the  landing  of  the 
Pilgrims  the  Tarratines  had  swooped  down  from 
the  Penobscot  country  and  Nanepashemet  and  his 
tribe  had  paid  the  penalty  of  their  isolation.  Rock 
Hill,  Medford,2  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  scene 

1  Dexter's  Mourt's  Relation,  p.  127. 

2An   Indian   skeleton   was   exhumed   in   West   Medford, 
Mass.,  Oct.  21,  1862,  a  short  distance  S.  E.  from  Mystic 

[132] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

of  this  foray  upon  the  sachem  of  the  Massachusetts 
Indians.1 

The  queen-sachem  had  not  waited  for  Standish 
and  his  men;  for  they  found  only  the  poles  of 
recently  dismantled  lodges,  among  which  they 
came  across  a  heap  of  corn  under  a  mat.  Coming 

Pond,  which,  partly  because  there  was  with  it  a  pipe  with  a 
copper  mouthpiece,  it  was  thought  might  be  Nanepashemet's. 

Proceedings  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  December,  1862. 

Nanepashemet  is  said  to  have  been  at  one  time  the  most 
powerful  sachem  of  New  England.  He  resided  at  Lynn  until 
"the  great  war  of  the  Taretines,"  in  1615.  He  then  retreated 
to  Medford,  where  he  built  him  an  house  on  Rock  Hill.  He 
was  killed  by  the  Tarratines  in  1619. 

Roger  Williams,  Key,  etc.,  72.  I.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  i.,  p. 
110,  says:  "  Nanepashemet  was  the  Wampanoag  for  'Moone 
God.'" 

Brooks's  History  of  Medford,  p.  72. 

Newhall's  'History  of  Lynn,  p.  35. 

Shattuck's  History  of  Concord. 

His  [Nanepashemet's]  house  was  not  like  others,  but  "a 
scaffold  was  largely  built,  with  pooles  and  plancks  some  six 
foote  from  the  ground,  and  the  house  upon  that,  being  sit 
uated  on  the  top  of  a  hill." 

Dexter's  Mourt,  p.  127. 

The  date  of  this  expedition  is  fixed  by  both  Bradford  and 
Prince  as  Tuesday,  Sept.  18-28,  1621. 

1  The  sachem  of  the  locality  was  Obbatinewat.  He  was 
tributary  to  Massasoit,  though  of  the  Massachusetts.  He 
complained  of  the  Tarratines,  who  lived  to  the  east  along  the 
Penobscot  River  and  were  accustomed  to  come  hither  almost 
every  year  about  the  time  of  harvest  and  take  away  their 

[133] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

to  another  stockade,  they  sent  out  two  of  the  Indians 
who  had  come  along  with  them  to  show  them  the 
way,  who  found  not  far  away  a  knot  of  Indian 
squaws  about  a  pile  of  corn  which  they  had  evi 
dently  brought  hither  in  their  flight  from  the 
Standish  party.  Although  terror-stricken  at  the 
approach  of  the  whites,  the  friendliness  of  Standish 
prevailed,  and  the  women  were  not  long  after  en 
tertaining  the  strangers  with  an  appetizing  repast 
of  boiled  cod  and  such  other  native  delicacies  as 
their  limited  larder  allowed.  By  dint  of  persuasion 
one  Indian,  "shaking  and  trembling  for  feare,"  was 
induced  to  meet  the  palefaces;  and,  though  he 
promised  them  his  furs,  he  was  silent  as  to  the 
whereabouts  of  the  queen-sachem.  Squanto  sug 
gested  the  plundering  of  these  confiding  savages, 
urging,  "They  are  a  bad  people,  and  have  often 
threatened  you!"  But  Standish  turned  a  deaf  ear 
to  Squanto;  and  so  friendly  had  the  squaws  become 
that  they  kept  Standish  company  back  to  his  boat, 
where  they  "sold  their  coats  from  their  backs,  and 
tied  boughs  about  them,  but  with  great  shame- 
facedness,  for/'  as  the  relation  continues,  "indeed 
they  are  more  modest  than  some  of  our  English 


corn.    It  was  on  one  of  the  incursions  of  the  Tarratines  that 
Nanepashemet  was  killed.    So  fearful  were  the  Massachu 
setts  of  this  section  that  they  were  continually  wandering 
from  place  to  place,  to  avoid  their  dreaded  enemy. 
Freeman,  Civilization  and  Barbarism,  p.  35. 

[134] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

women."  Before  noon  of  the  following  day  Stan- 
dish  had  returned  with  a  small  stock  of  furs  and  a 
regret  that  the  Plymouth  Colony  "had  been  ther 
seated."1 

Allusion  is  here  made  to  this  first  noted  explora 
tion  of  Boston  Harbor,  as  the  English  made  another 
visit  hither  some  eight  months  later  under  the  aus 
pices  of  a  London  merchant,  Mr.  Thomas  Weston, 
wrhose  intercourse  with  the  savages  was  not  of  so 
pacific  a  character  as  had  been  that  of  Standish. 

Weston's  party  came  down  the  North  Shore  in  an 
open  boat,  possibly  from  Pemaquid  way,  in  the 
mid-days  of  May,  1622.  There  were  ten  of  them, 
and  their  object  was  the  establishment  of  a  trading- 
post  somewhere  along  the  coast  adjacent  to  the 
Plymouth  settlement,  with  which  enterprise,  com 
mercially,  Weston  had  been  connected.  His  inter 
est  was  wholly  speculative,  aroused  by  the  glowing 
reports  which  Capt.  John  Smith  had  brought  back 
from  his  numerous  voyages  to  the  New  World. 
Smith  had  been  in  Boston  Harbor,  possibly.  In 
his  map  of  New  England  he  had  suggested  its  most 
important  river,  which  the  savages  declared  pene 
trated  "many  days  journeys  the  entrails  of  that 
country."  This  visit  of  Smith's  was  in  1614,  and 
according  to  his  account  of  the  locality  the  French 
had  been  here  even  earlier  than  himself,  and  had 
stripped  the  natives  of  their  barter,  so  that  he  found 

1  Bradford's  Plimoth  Plantation,  p.  105. 
[135] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

their  stores  of  furs  utterly  depleted.  After  the 
coming  of  Smith  other  French  came  here  to  trade 
for  furs,  only  to  lose  their  ship,  their  scalps,  and 
their  freedom;  for  the  savages  surprised  them  at 
anchor  off  Pettuck's  Island,  burning  their  vessel 
and  either  killing  the  crew  or  carrying  them  into 
savage  captivity.  Years  after,  pieces  of  French 
money  were  found  in  Dorchester  ground.  Other 
French  came,  but  left  no  relation  of  their  visits. 
Some  were  shipwrecked;  but  the  stories  are  mostly 
those  of  tradition.1 

Weston  accepted  the  Leyden  exiles  as  a  means  to 
an  end,  but  he  profited  little  from  his  connection 
with  the  Plymouth  settlement.  So  far  as  the  Eng 
lish  partners  of  the  Plymouth  interest  were  con 
cerned,  the  venture  was  a  financial  failure,  which 
Weston  decided  was  due  more  to  "  weeknes  of  judge 
ment,  than  weeknes  of  hands."  He  rather  roughly 
informed  the  Plymouth  folks  that  they  had  been 
more  inclined  to  discourse  and  argumentation 
among  themselves  than  to  improving  their  oppor 
tunities  for  trading.  He  as  well  terminates  his  con 
nection  with  these  people,  who,  to  him,  seem  to 
deal  more  in  words  than  in  any  other  commodity. 
Weston  sold  his  interest  in  the  Plymouth  venture 

1  Pratt,  Relation,  4  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  489. 
Morton,  New  English  Canaan,  chap.  3. 
Savage,  Winthrop,  vol.  i.,  p.  59,  note. 
Bradford,  Plimoth  Plantation,  p.  102. 

[136] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

to  the  Merchants  Adventurers  Company,  to  evolve 
another  scheme  in  which  the  "family"  was  to  be 
eliminated,  and  getting  together  the  toughest  and 
roughest  of  human  material  for  his  new  adventure, 
which  was  to  become  the  initial  movement  for  the 
settlement  of  the  lands  about  Boston  Harbor,  and 
in  the  near  future  was  to  arouse  the  further  ani 
mosity  of  the  Indians  and  possibly  imperil  the 
security  of  the  little  colony  at  Cape  Cod. 

It  was  on  the  occasion  of  Winslow's  tempori 
zing  with  the  messengers  of  Massasoit  who  had 
come  to  the  settlement  to  demand  the  surrender 
of  Squanto,  or,  in  lieu  of  the  corpus,  his  head  and 
hands  to  carry  back  to  their  sachem,  that  a  fishing- 
boat  was  discovered  in  the  offing  of  the  harbor. 
Squanto  had  conspired  against  Massasoit.  His 
messengers  were  becoming  importunate.  Winslow 
was  in  a  dilemma.  If  he  refused  to  give  Squanto 
into  the  custody  of  the  messengers  he  was  repudia 
ting  his  treaty  of  the  year  before  with  Massasoit. 
If  he  acceded  to  their  demands  he  was  possibly 
losing  an  invaluable  servant.  The  sail  out  on  the 
waters  of  the  bay  was  a  plausible  excuse  for  delay 
ing  his  decision.  It  might  be  a  party  of  French, 
and  he  told  them  he  had  heard  rumors  of  designs 
by  that  nation  against  the  English,  and  that  the 
Indians  were  to  help  them.  He  desired  them  to 
wait;  but,  unable  to  conceal  their  rage  and  disap 
pointment,  they  turned  from  him  and  disappeared 
into  the  woods  to  make  their  way  back  to  Poko- 

[137] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

noket,  their  first  mission  to  the  English  under  their 
treaty  a  failure.1  The  English  were  punctilious  in 
their  exactions  of  the  Indians'  promises;  as  to  their 
own,  they  did  as  suited  their  convenience.  The 
Plymouth  settlers  remind  one  of  the  famous  parable 
of  the  unjust  steward. 

The  boat  coming  into  the  harbor  was  from 
Monhegan.  It  had  come  from  one  of  Weston's 
fishing-vessels  there  engaged  in  taking  fish  about 
Penobscot  Bay.  It  was  in  May  of  1622  (O.  S.)  and 
the  colony  was  out  of  provisions.  They  had  no 
bread;  no  fish-hooks.  The  season  for  sea-fowl  had 
passed.  They  were  digging  their  sustenance  from 
the  mud  of  the  clam-flats.  Physical  debilitation 
and  increasing  discouragement  were  the  results. 
In  this  impoverished  condition  they  were  found  by 
the  crew  of  Weston's  shallop,  which  had  brought 
along  seven  passengers  from  the  fleet  of  thirty 


1  Thacher,  in  his  History  of  Plymouth,  gives  a  very  full 
relation  of  this  incident,  but  makes  no  comment.  See  p.  46. 

Drake  says  that  the  delay  in  acceding  to  the  demands  of 
Massasoit's  messengers  for  Squanto,  whom,  for  their  respect 
for  the  English,  they  would  not  seize,  "was  occasioned  by  the 
appearance  of  a  boat  in  the  harbor  which  the  governour  pre 
tended  might  be  that  of  an  enemy,  as  there  had  been  a  rumor 
that  the  French  had  meditated  breaking  up  the  settlement  of 
the  English  in  this  region.  This,  however,  was  doubtless  only 
a  pretence,  employed  to  wear  out  the  patience  of  his  unwel 
come  visitors." 

Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  22. 

[138] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

vessels  about  Monhegan,  of  which  Weston's  was 
one.  The  shallop  from  Monhegan  was  also  short 
of  provisions.  Instead  of  a  boat-load  of  stores 
from  Weston,  they  got  a  letter  from  him  by  which 
they  were  informed  that  he  had  sold  his  "adventure 
and  debts"  and  was  "quit"  of  them. 

Bradford  writes  in  his  Journal:  "Amids  these 
streighths,  and  ye  desertion  of  those  from  whom 
they  had  hoped  for  supply,  and  when  famine  be- 
gane  now  to  pinch  them  sore,  they  knowing  not 
what  to  doe,  the  Lord,  (who  never  fails  his,)  pre 
sents  them  with  an  occasion,  beyond  all  expecta 
tion.  This  boat  which  came  from  ye  eastward 
brought  them  a  letter  from  a  stranger,  of  whose 
name  they  had  never  heard  before,  being  a  cap- 
taine  of  a  ship  come  ther  a  fishing."1 

1This  letter  is  here  given  for  its  quaint  kindliness  and 
suggestion : 

"To  all  his  good  freinds  at  Plimoth,  these,  &c. 

"Freinds,  cuntrimen,  &  neighbors:  I  salute  you,  and  wish 
you  all  health  &  hapines  in  ye  Lord.  I  make  bould  with  these 
few  lines  to  trouble  you,  because  unless  I  were  unhumane, 
I  can  doe  no  less.  Bad  news  doth  spread  it  selfe  too  fair; 
yet  I  will  so  farr  informe  you  that  my  selfe,  with  many  good 
freinds  in  y6  south-collonie  of  Virginia,  have  received  such  a 
blow,  that  400.  persons  large  will  not  make  good  our  losses. 
[The  writer  evidently  refers  to  the  massacre  of  the  Virginia 
settlers.]  Therefor  I  doe  intreat  you  (allthough  not  knowing 
you)  that  y6  old  rule  which  I  learned  when  I  went  to  schoole, 
may  be  sufficente.  That  is,  Hapie  is  he  whom  other  mens 
harmes  doth  make  to  beware.  And  now  againe  and  againe, 

[139] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

Bradford  continues:  "By  this  boat  ye  Govr  re 
turned  a  thankfull  answer,  as  was  meete,  and  sent 
a  boate  of  their  owne  with  them,  which  was  piloted 
by  them,  in  which  Mr-  Winslow  was  sente  to  pro 
cure  what  provissions  he  could  of  ye  ships,  ...  by 
which  means  he  gott  some  good  quantitie  and  re 
turned  in  saftie."1 

wishing  all  those  yl  willingly  would  serve  y6  Lord,  all  health 
and  happines  in  this  world,  and  everlasting  peace  in  ye  world 
to  come.  And  so  I  rest,  Yours, 

JOHN  HUDLSTON." 

1  This  incident  has  given  rise  to  more  or  less  controversy, 
by  which  some,  having  suggested  that  there  might  have  been 
a  settlement  at  Pemaquid  anterior  to  the  coming  of  the  Plym 
outh  settlers  which  may  have  furnished  some  store  of  sup 
plies  to  Winslow  on  this  occasion,  have  got  into  a  "battle  of 
the  chips."  It  is  on  a  par  with  the  strenuous  efforts  of  those 
who  have  indulged  in  a  contest  of  opinion  over  the  Weymouth 
expedition  to  the  Sagadahoc.  Usually  the  controversialist 
who  has  no  certain  proof  of  his  assertions  is  troubled  with  a 
cocksureness  that  invokes  ridicule.  No  one  knows  what 
occurred  on  Weymouth's  voyage,  except  that  he  was  on  the 
New  England  coast,  some  portion  of  which  he  actually  ex 
plored.  Whether  there  was  or  was  not  a  settlement  at  New 
Harbor  before  1620  no  one  can  state.  So  what  is  the  use  to 
argue,  when  there  is  no  evidence  either  way  ?  Your  historical 
dilettante,  whose  zeal  swallows  up  his  fairness,  fairly  snorts 
his  disdain  at  the  suggestion  of  even  a  fisher-hut  being  on  the 
New  England  coast  before  Plymouth.  New  Harbor  offers 
much  more  than  a  probability. 

Bradford  is  far  from  being  obscure.  He  went  to  Pemaquid. 
He  met  Hudleston,  who  gave  him  what  he  could  and  helped 

[140] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

In  addition  to  the  short  commons  which  at  that 
time  was  the  common  lot  of  the  entire  colony,  there 
were  indications  of  trouble  on  the  part  of  the 
Indians.  Massasoit  had  cooled  somewhat  in  his 
ardor  for  the  English  after  the  disinclination  of  the 
latter  to  part  with  Squanto,  as  he  was  justly  entitled 
under  the  treaty.  News  had  come  from  Virginia 
of  the  massacre  of  March  27  of  the  current  year,  in 
which  three  hundred  and  forty-seven  of  the  Vir 
ginia  settlers  had  been  butchered  by  the  savages  of 

him  to  others  who  also  contributed.  There  is  no  statement 
of  Bradford's  that  shuts  out  the  one  or  confirms  the  other. 
Here  was  a  fishing-station.  Thirty  vessels  were  here,  had 
been  here  the  whole  season,  and  were  to  remain  until  they 
had  made  up  their  "fares."  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the 
decks  of  their  vessels  were  large  enough  to  accommodate 
their  flakes.  They  would  naturally  prefer  the  shore,  with  so 
superior  a  harbor  as  New  Harbor  afforded.  After  1614  the 
English  sent  considerable  fleets  into  these  waters,  as  many  as 
fifty  fishermen  being  here  at  once.  There  must  have  been  a 
fishing-station  here,  by  the  very  force  of  circumstances;  and 
that  the  community  had  no  chronicler  like  Mourt  to  paint  its 
daily  living  is  more  its  misfortune  than  it  is  its  repudiation. 
That  was  Samoset's  country.  He  had  some  knowledge  of  the 
English  language.  He  liked  the  English  "beere,"  and  he 
gave  Bradford  the  names  of  many  English  captains  who 
came  to  Monhegan.  He  spoke  of  them  as  of  his  friends  and 
familiars  —  an  acquaintance  that  could  come  only  with  a 
continuous  friendly  intercourse,  and  perhaps  intimacy. 
History  is  the  opposite  of  unelastic.  It  is  like  a  human  biog 
raphy:  something  is  told;  much  remains  to  be  told;  and  a 
great  deal  is  inferred. 

[141] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

that  region;  and,  alarmed  for  their  own  safety,  they 
began  immediately  the  erection  of  a  fort  of  ample 
dimensions.1  The  Fortune  had  come  and  gone;  and 
while  their  numbers  had  been  added  to,  they  were 
not  particularly  strengthened,  from  a  defensive 
point  of  view.  They  were,  too,  almost  on  the  verge 
of  starvation. 

To  increase  their  anxiety,  the  month  previous 
(it  was  in  February,  1622,  O.  S.),  Canonicus,  the 
Narragansett  sachem,  had  sent  into  the  Plymouth 
settlement  by  one  of  his  men  a  bundle  of  arrows 
tied  about  with  a  rattlesnake  skin.  The  meaning 
of  this  episode  was  a  mystery  to  the  Plymouth 
governor  until  Squanto  informed  Winslow  that  it 
was  a  declaration  of  war  on  the  part  of  the  Narra 
gansett  sachem.  Governor  Bradford  at  once  re 
turned  the  rattlesnake  skin  to  Canonicus  filled  with 
powder  and  shot,  sending  word  to  the  belligerent 
sachem  that  he  defied  him  and  invited  him  to  begin 


1  Immediately  following  the  hostile  message  of  Canonicus, 
Baylie  says:  "They  also  enclosed  a  part  of  the  hill  and  made 
four  bulwarks,  or  jetties,  without  the  pale.  In  three  of  these 
bulwarks  there  were  gates  which  were  kept  locked  at  night, 
and  watch  and  ward  was  kept  through  the  day.  The  ground 
which  they  enclosed  was  enough  to  supply  a  garden  for  each 
family." 

Baylie's  History  of  New  Plymouth,  p.  87. 

He  continues,  p.  93:  "They  completed  the  fort,  building  it 
strongly  of  timber,  with  a  flat  roof  and  battlements;  on  this 
roof  they  mounted  the  ordnance,  and  kept  constant  watch." 

[142] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

the  conflict  as  soon  as  he  pleased.  The  confident 
daring  and  insolence  of  the  Plymouth  messenger 
had  the  intended  effect,  and  Canonicus  was  so  fear 
ful  of  the  occult  powers  ascribed  to  the  English  that 
he  refused  to  receive  the  emblem  of  defiance  he  had 
sent  to  Bradford,  which,  with  its  contents,  passed 
from  hand  to  hand  until  it  had  been  returned  to  the 
Plymouth  people.  From  this,  on  to  1635,  Canon 
icus  maintained  a  peaceful  attitude  toward  the 
English.1 

The  Charity  and  the  Swan,  two  small  vessels, 
dropped  anchor  in  Plymouth  Harbor  late  in  June 
of  1623.  They  came  over  in  the  interest  of  Thomas 
Weston,  bringing  some  sixty  "rude  fellows"  who 
were  to  colonize  Wessagusset,  a  solitary  region  that 
bordered  upon  the  southerly  shore  of  Boston 

"In  a  grave  assembly,  upon  a  certain  occasion,  Canonicus 
thus  addressed  Roger  Williams:  *I  have  never  suffered  any 
wrong  to  be  offered  to  the  English  since  they  landed,  nor 
never  will.  If  the  Englishman  speak  true,  if  he  mean  truly, 
then  shall  I  go  to  my  grave  in  peace,  and  hope  that  the  English 
and  my  posterity  shall  live  in  love  and  peace  together.' 

"When  Mr.  Williams  said  he  had  no  cause  to  question  the 
Englishmen's  wunnaumwauonck,  that  is,  faithfulness,  having 
long  been  acquainted  with  it,  Canonicus  took  a  stick  and, 
breaking  it  into  ten  pieces,  related  ten  instances  wherein  they 
had  proved  false;  laying  down  a  piece  at  each  instance.  Mr. 
Williams  satisfied  him  that  he  was  mistaken  in  some  of  them, 
and  as  to  others  he  agreed  to  intercede  with  the  governor, 
who,  he  doubted  not,  would  make  satisfaction  for  them." 

Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  50. 

[143] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

Harbor.  These  remained  at  Plymouth  until  into 
August,  when  the  preliminaries  for  the  occupation 
of  the  site  of  the  new  colony  had  been  completed. 
Leaving  Plymouth  (much  to  the  relief  of  the  settle 
ment,  for  they  were  a  boisterous  set),  the  Weston 
party  made  their  way  thither  under  the  charge  of 
one  Saunders,  who  had  assumed  the  direction  of 
Weston's  enterprise  upon  the  death  of  Richard 
Green,  a  brother-in-law  of  Weston.  Weston  re 
mained  in  England,  where  he  was  consummating 
his  plans  for  the  further  development  of  Wessa- 
gusset,  which  he  intended  should  rival  the  Plymouth 
adventure.  Unfortunately  for  all  concerned,  the 
Weston  party  was  made  up  of  "profligate  mis 
creants,"  altogether  unfit  for  any  employment,  un 
less  it  might  be  piracy  upon  the  high  seas. 

This  same  month  the  Plymouth  settlement  had 
another  visitor,  the  Discovery,  which  was  sailed  by 
an  old  acquaintance,  Captain  Jones,  who  brought 
the  Mayflower  over  in  1620.  He  brought  along  a 
lading  of  trinkets  for  the  Indian  trade.  A  few  days 
later  the  Sparrow  dropped  anchor  at  Plymouth. 
She  had  been  laying  in  a  fare  of  fish  about  Mon- 
hegan,  and  was  one  of  Weston's  vessels.  Later, 
the  Sparrow  sailed  for  Wessagusset. 

Weston's  company,  from  the  start,  was  a  flat 
failure.  It  was  without  organization,  leadership, 
or  definite  purpose,  apparently.  A  short  time 
sufficed  to  accomplish  its  complete  disintegration, 
but  not  until  it  had  involved  the  Plymouth  settle- 

[144] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

ment  in  a  war  with  the  Massachusetts.  Some  were 
taken  sick;  not  a  few  died;  and  the  remainder  were 
soon  so  debilitated  by  their  improvidences  that  they 
were  reduced  to  becoming  servants  for  the  savages, 
who  repaid  their  dependence  upon  them  by  plotting 
to  rid  the  country  about  Wessagusset  of  their 
obnoxious  presence.  They  were  a  lot  of  unscru 
pulous  thieves  who  stole  from  the  Indians  whenever 
opportunity  offered  —  a  most  degenerate  lot,  gath 
ered  from  the  scum  of  London  docks  and  other 
trading-ports. 

It  was  at  this  place  the  incident  occurred  that 
gave  a  "merry  gentleman,"  Mr.  Butler,  the  in 
spiration  for  some  portion  of  his  "Hudibras,"  a 
fine  poetical  satire  on  the  times.1  The  lines  referred 
to  were  suggested  by  the  hanging,  for  the  theft  of 
another,  a  poor  "decrepit  old  man  that  was  un 
serviceable  to  the  company  [an  old  bed-ridden 
weaver]  and  burdensome  to  keep  alive."2 

Thomas  Morton,  afterward  of  famous  Merry 
Mount,  who  was  of  Weston's  company  but  who 
was  absent  at  this  time,  charges  the  troubles  at 
Wessagusset  to  the  instigation  of  the  Plymouth 
people.  Morton  made  some  observations  on  affairs 
in  New  England  which  he  entitled,  New  English 
Canaan,  in  which  there  is  something  of  quaint  and 
curious  information,  much  acerbity,  some  malice, 

1  Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  32. 
2 Coll  N.  H.  Hist.  Soc.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  148. 
[145] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

and  not  a  little  stretching  of  the  truth  at  times.  It 
is  a  rare  production,  and  is  seldom  seen  except  in 
later  reprints.  Drake  introduces  a  whole  chapter 
from  Morton's  work  into  his  story  of  the  troubles 
at  Wessagusset,  which  is  here  given.  Morton's  pen 
is  dipped  in  caustic  at  times,  especially  when  he 
refers  to  those  who  interfered  with  his  "scandalous" 
revelries  at  Merry  Mount  a  few  years  later. 

Morton  says:  "Master  Weston's  plantation  being 
settled  at  Wessaguscus,  his  servants,  many  of  them 
lazy  persons,  that  would  use  no  endeavor  to  take 
the  benefit  of  the  country,  some  of  them  fell  sick 
and  died. 

"One  amongst  the  rest,  an  able-bodied  man,  that 
ranged  the  woods,  to  see  what  it  would  afford, 
lighted  by  accident  on  an  Indian  barne,  and  from 
thence  did  take  a  cap  full  of  corne.  The  salvage 
owner  of  it,  finding  by  the  foot  [track]  some  English 
had  been  there,  came  to  the  plantation  and  made 
complaint  after  this  manner.  The  chief  commander 
on  this  occasion,  called  a  Parliament  of  all  his  peo 
ple,  but  those  that  were  sick  and  ill  at  ease.  And 
wisely  now  they  must  consult,  upon  this  huge  com 
plaint,  that  a  privy  [paltry]  knife  or  string  of  beads 
would  well  enough  have  qualified:  And  Edward 
Johnson  was  a  special  judge  of  this  business.  The 
fact  was  there  in  repetition,  construction  made, 
that  it  was  fellony,  and  by  the  laws  of  England 
punished  with  death,  and  this  in  execution  must 
be  put  for  an  example,  and  likewise  to  appease  the 

[146] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

salvage;  when  straightway s  one  arose,  moved  as 
it  were  with  some  compassion,  and  said  he  could 
not  well  gainsay  the  former  sentence;  yet  he  had 
conceived,  within  the  compass  of  his  brain,  an 
embrio,  that  was  of  special  consequence  to  be  de 
livered,  and  cherished,  he  said;  that  it  would  most 
amply  serve  to  pacify  the  salvage's  complaint,  and 
save  the  life  of  one  that  might  (if  need  be)  stand 
them  in  some  good  stead;  being  young  and  strong, 
fit  for  resistance  against  an  enemy,  which  might 
come  unexpectedly,  for  any  thing  they  knew. 

"The  oration  made  was  liked  of  every  one, and  he 
intreated  to  show  the  means  how  they  may  be  per 
formed.  Says  he,  you  all  agree  that  one  must  die, 
and  one  shall  die?  This  young  man's  clothes  we 
will  take  off,  and  put  upon  one  that  is  old  and  im 
potent,  a  sickly  person  that  cannot  escape  death; 
such  is  the  disease  on  him  confirmed,  that  die  he 
must?  Put  the  young  man's  clothes  on  this  man, 
and  let  the  sick  person  be  hanged  in  the  other's 
stead.  Amen,  says  one,  and  so  says  many  more. 
And  this  had  like  to  have  proved  their  final  sen 
tence;  and  being  there  confirmed  by  act  of  Parlia 
ment  to  after  ages  for  a  precedent.  But  the  one, 
with  a  ravenous  voice,  begun  to  croak  and  bellow 
for  revenge,  and  put  by  that  conclusive  motion; 
alleging  such  deceits  might  be  a  means  hereafter  to 
exasperate  the  minds  of  the  complaining  salvages, 
and  that,  by  his  death,  the  salvages  should  see  their 
zeal  to  justice,  and  therefore,  he  should  die.  This 

[147] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

was  concluded;  yet,  nevertheless,  a  scruple  was 
made;  now  to  countermand  this  act  did  represent 
itself  unto  their  minds,  which  was  how  they  should 
do  to  get  the  man's  good  will:  this  was  indeed  a 
special  obstacle:  for  without  that  (they  all  agreed) 
it  would  be  dangerous,  for  any  man  to  attempt  the 
execution  of  it,  lest  mischief  should  befall  them 
every  man.  He  was  a  person  that,  in  his  wrath, 
did  seem  to  be  a  second  Sampson,  able  to  beat  out 
their  brains  with  the  jaw-bone  of  an  ass:  therefore 
they  called  the  man,  and  by  persuasion  got  him 
fast  bound  in  jest,  and  then  hanged  him  up  hard 
by  in  good  earnest,  who,  with  a  weapon  and  at 
liberty,  would  have  put  all  these  wise  judges  of 
this  Parliament  to  a  pitiful  Non  Plus,  (as  it  hath 
been  credibly  reported,)  and  made  the  chief  judge 
of  them  all  buckle  to  him."1 

This  is  an  entire  chapter  of  the  New  Canaan, 
which,  on  account  of  its  great  rarity,  we  have  given 
in  full.  In  his  next  chapter  Mr.  Morton  proceeds 
to  narrate  the  circumstances  of  the  "massacre"  of 
Wittuwamet,  Peksuot,  and  other  Massachusetts 
Indians,  and  the  consequences  of  it.  But  we  shall 

1New  English  Canaan,  4to,  Amsterdam,  1637. 

Hubbard  contradicts  this  story  of  Morton's.  Mr.  Hubbard 
had  the  account  from  the  Plymouth  people  conversant  with 
the  incident,  who  avouched  the  fact  that  the  person  hanged 
was  as  guilty  of  stealing  as  any  of  the  others,  and  suffered 
justly,  for  that  matter.  Thacher  leans  toward  the  Morton  tale. 

Thacher,  History  of  Plymouth,  p.  49. 

[148] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

draw  from  the  Plymouth  historian,  and  afterwards 
use  Morton's  chapter  as  we  find  occasion. 

Mr.  Winslow  says  that  Mr.  Weston's  men  "knew 
not  of  this  conspiracy  of  the  Indians  before  his  [John 
Saunders,  their  'overseer']  going;  neither  was  it 
known  to  any  of  us  until  our  return  from  Sowaams 
or  Puckanokick:  at  which  time  also  another  sachim, 
called  Wassapinewat,  brother  to  Obtakiest,  the 
sachim  of  the  Massachusets,  who  had  formerly 
smarted  for  partaking  with  Conbatant,  and  fearing 
the  like  again,  to  purge  himself,  revealed  the  same 
thing  [as  Massasoit  had  done]." 

It  was  now  the  twenty-third  of  March,  1623,  "a 
yearly  court  day"  at  Plymouth,  on  which  war  was 
proclaimed,  "in  public  court,"  against  the  Massa 
chusetts  Indians.  "We  came  to  this  conclusion," 
says  Winslow,  "that  Captain  Standish  should  take 
so  many  men,  as  he  thought  sufficient  to  make  his 
party  good  against  all  the  Indians  in  the  Massa 
chusetts  Bay  ;f  and  as  because,  as  all  men  know  that 
have  to  do  with  them  in  that  kind,  it  is  impossible 
to  deal  with  them  upon  open  defiance,  but  to  take 
them  in  such  traps  as  they  lay  for  others;  therefore 
he  should  pretend  trade  as  at  other  tinies:  but  first 
go  to  the  English,  at  Wessagusicus  and  acquaint 
them  with  the  plot,  and  the  end  of  their  own  com 
ing,  that,  comparing  it  with  their  own  carriages 
towards  them,  he  might  better  judge  of  the  cer 
tainty  of  it,  and  more  fitly  take  opportunity  to 
revenge  the  same:  but  should  forbare,  if  it  were 

[149] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

possible,  till  such  time  as  he  could  make  sure 
Wittawamet,1  that  bloody  and  bold  villian  before 
spoken  of;  whose  head  he  had  order  to  bring  with 
him,  that  he  might  be  a  warning  and  terror  to  all 
that  disposition."2 

Morton,  in  his  story  of  this  transaction,  says: 
"After  the  ending  of  Parliament,  (which  ended  in 

1Wittawamet  was  a  sachem  of  the  Massachusetts,  also 
Pecksuot.  As  to  both,  the  locality  of  their  residence  is  un 
certain,  if  not  obscure.  Wittawamet  was  a  desperately  bold 
savage  and,  as  well,  bloodthirsty.  He  delighted  in  pouring 
out  the  blood  of  his  enemies.  No  doubt,  like  others  of  his 
race,  his  deep-seated  hatred  of  the  English  was  born  of  his 
knowledge  of  the  abuses  put  upon  the  savage  by  the  white 
man.  He  was  one  of  those  who  attacked  the  crew  of  the 
French  vessel  which  tradition  reports  as  having  been  cast 
away  on  Cape  Cod.  That  these  two  sachems  were  in  a  plot 
to  destroy  the  English  in  1623  is  not  to  be  doubted  from  what 
occurred  subsequently.  There  was  also  a  plot  to  kill  Standish, 
but  it  fell  through  by  reason  of  the  extreme  coldness  of  the 
February  night,  which  kept  Standish  awake.  Massasoit  had 
been  solicited  to  engage  in  this  conspiracy;  but,  instead  of 
yielding  to  their  persuasions,  he  directed  Hobomok  to  reveal 
the  plot  to  the  English.  Massasoit  designated  Nauset, 
Paomet,  Succonet,  Mattachiest,  Manomet,  Agowaywam,  and 
the  Island  of  Capawick  as  involved  in  this  conspiracy.  Massa 
soit  advised  the  English  through  Hobomok,  "without  delay, 
to  take  away  the  principals,  and  the  plot  would  cease." 
Wessagusset  was  to  be  attacked  and  destroyed  first;  then  the 
Plymouth  Colony. 

Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  31. 

2  Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  34. 
[150] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

the  hanging  of  one,)  some  of  the  plantation  there, 
about  three  persons,  went  to  live  with  Checatawbeck 
and  his  company,  and  had  very  good  quarter,  for  all 
the  former  quarrel  with  the  Plimouth  planters. 
They  are  not  like  Will  Sommers,  to  take  one  for 
another."  Sommers  was  the  man  who  proposed 
the  hanging  of  a  sick  man  instead  of  the  real 
offender.  These  three  who  had  attached  themselves 
to  the  Indians  proposed  to  remain  with  them  until 
the  coming  of  Weston;  but  Morton  charges  the 
Plymouth  people  as  "intending  no  good"  to 
Weston's  interest.1 


1  While  Baylie  says  that  much  obloquy  has  been  thrown 
upon  the  Pilgrims  by  reason  of  the  manner  in  which  this 
attack  on  the  Massachusetts  was  carried  out,  and  while  it 
has  been  charged  up  to  Plymouth  as  one  of  their  own  fictions 
(this  conspiracy  of  the  savages  to  exterminate  the  English, 
created  because  they  did  not  wish  Weston's  colony  to  prosper, 
the  condition  of  things  being  ideal  among  the  Massachusetts 
and  the  colony  itself  for  the  ridding  themselves  of  unwelcome 
neighbors,  both  red  and  white),  he  asserts  that  "any  one  who 
examines  the  proofs  with  impartiality,  will  be  convinced  of 
its  [the  conspiracy's]  existence,  and  that  the  colonists  were 
actuated  neither  by  interest  nor  revenge;  but  only  endeavored 
to  secure  their  own  safety  by  attacking  those  who,  when  their 
projects  were  matured,  would  have  destroyed  them." 

Baylie,  History  of  New  Plymouth,  p.  106. 

Baylie  does  not  go  back  sufficiently  far.  The  Indians  had 
cause  to  conspire,  unless  they  were  to  be  regarded  as  a 
wholly  spiritless  people,  without  sense  or  courage.  The  in 
timidating  disposition  of  Miles  Standish  was  not  calculated 

[151] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

When  Standish  had  completed  his  preparations 
for  the  punishment  of  Wittawamet,  and  before  he 
had  set  out  from  Plymouth,  one  of  Weston's  men 
arrived  from  Wessaguscus,  half-starved,  and  re 
lated  to  the  Plymouth  folks  the  precarious  condi- 

to  conciliate  the  savage.  Standish  himself  did  not  intend  that 
to  be  the  effect;  for  from  the  first  the  measures  of  the  English 
were  openly  coercive.  The  results  of  hatred,  suspicion,  and 
covert  reprisal  were  the  logical  conclusion.  They  were  the 
only  qualities  to  be  opposed  to  the  English  aggression  and 
dominancy.  These  were  not  the  factors  which  would  make 
for  comity  between  two  strange  peoples  anywhere,  or  in  any 
time.  The  savage  had  much  to  avenge,  and  that  he  rebelled 
finally  affords  one  something  in  the  Indian  character  to  ad 
mire.  Standish  preferred  the  Indian  as  an  enemy,  rather  than 
as  a  friend.  War  was  his  trade,  his  normal  condition,  and 
the  Englishman  throve  upon  it  to  the  ultimate  extinction  of 
the  aborigine. 

The  English  were  kindly  disposed  toward  Massasoit. 
Winslow  played  Esculapius  most  successfully  to  the  sick 
sachem.  Massasoit  never  forgot  Winslow.  But  the  great 
sachem  was  very  needful  to  the  English  at  that  time.  It  was 
upon  this  occasion  that  Winslow  was  accompanied  by  the 
afterwards  famous  John  Hampden,  who  led  the  Round 
heads  into  the  first  struggle  for  the  overthrow  of  the  British 
monarchy,  and  who  paid  the  price  all  patriots  pay.  He  had 
come  over  to  Plymouth  and,  curious  to  see  the  country  about 
Pokonoket,  he  went  on  this  visit  to  the  Wampanoag  sachem. 
It  was  this  kindly  ministration  of  Winslow,  however,  that  led 
Massasoit  to  reveal  to  him,  through  Hobomok,  the  plot  to 
destroy  the  Weston  colony,  accompanied  with  the  wise  sug 
gestion  that  the  people  of  Plymouth  had  better  strike  the  first 
blow,  or,  in  other  words,  "scotch  the  snake." 

[152] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

tion  of  those  he  had  left  at  the  Weston  settlement. 
He  complained  that  the  least  of  their  troubles  was 
being  insulted  by  the  Indians,  "  whose  boldness  in 
creased  abundantly;  insomuch  as  the  victuals  they 
got,  they  [the  Indians]  would  take  it  out  of  their 
pots,  and  eat  before  their  faces,"  and  upon  objec 
tion  from  the  white  men  they  would  threaten  them 
so  far  as  to  brandish  their  knives  in  their  faces. 

To  satisfy  the  savages,  they  were  compelled  to 
hang  one  of  the  company.  He  related,  further,  that 
the  Weston  men  "had  sold  their  clothes  for  corn, 
and  were  ready  to  starve  both  with  cold  and  hunger 
also,  because  they  could  not  endure  to  get  their 
victuals  by  reason  of  their  nakedness."  This  is 
rather  a  rugged  picture  of  the  first  colony  at  Boston 
Harbor.  Winslow  says,  upon  learning  this,  it  "gave 
us  good  encouragement  to  proceed  in  our  intend- 
ments."  Standish,  being  prepared  for  this  move 
ment,  as  has  already  been  noted,  set  out  the  next 
day  for  Wessaguscus  with  Hobomok  and  eight 
Englishmen.  Drake  says  that  his  taking  few  men 
shows  how  "a  few  English  guns  were  yet  feared 
by  the  Indians;"  but  historians,  however,  who 
write  of  this  particular  matter,  accord  the  reason 
that  Standish  thought  possibly  the  Indians  would 
mistrust  that  he  came  to  fight  them,  which  might 
frustrate  his  purpose.  Some  other  historians  have 
credited  it  to  Standish's  alleged  valor.  When 
Standish  reached  Wessaguscus,  he  found  Weston's 
men  considerably  scattered  and,  apparently  appre- 

[153] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

bending  no  danger,  conducting  their  affairs  as 
ordinarily.  When  he  revealed  to  them  the  danger 
they  were  in  from  the  Indians  their  reply  was, 
'They  feared  not  the  Indians,  but  lived,  and 
suffered  them  to  lodge  with  them,  not  having  sword 
or  gun,  or  needing  the  same." 

Standish  then  informed  them  of  the  plot.  This 
was  the  first  intimation  they  had  of  it.  Standish 
directed  them  to  call  in  all  their  men,  and  enjoined 
secrecy  upon  them  as  to  the  punishment  he  in 
tended  to  mete  out  to  the  savages.  It  would  seem, 
however,  from  Winslow's  Relation,  that  the  Indians, 
in  some  manner,  were  informed  of  this  intention  of 
Standish.  They  may  have  mistrusted  his  design. 
It  is  not  improbable  that  some  of  Weston's  men, 
by  reason  of  their  having  been  somewhat  dependent 
upon  the  Indians  for  their  sustenance,  warned  the 
latter;  or  that  Weston's  men,  doubting  the  existence 
of  the  plot,  betrayed  Standish's  confidence. 

After  Standish  arrived  at  Wessaguscus  the  In 
dians  sent  one  of  their  men  into  the  settlement, 
apparently  to  trade  with  the  men  from  Plymouth, 
but  undoubtedly  to  discover,  if  possible,  the  pur 
pose  of  Standish.  Alert  to  the  situation,  equally 
sagacious  as  he  related  the  incident  afterwards,  he 
said  that  he  "saw  treachery  in  his  [visitor's]  eye, 
and  suspected  his  end  in  coming  there  was  dis 
covered."  The  situation  was  strained;  each  party 
was  watching  the  other.  The  Indians,  not  long 
before,  had  committed  an  overt  act  of  hostility  by 

[154] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

butchering  three  Englishmen  of  Weston's  party. 
These  had  taken  up  their  residence  with  the  natives 
and  had  been  killed  as  they  slept,  in  their  wigwams, 
at  the  instigation,  no  doubt,  of  Chikkataubut,  by 
whose  people  this  triple  crime  was  consummated. 
Shortly  after  the  coming  of  the  first  Indian  to 
Standish,  Peksuot,  "who  was  a  paniese,  being  a 
man  of  notable  spirit,"  came  to  Hobomok,  saying 
he  understood  Standish  was  to  kill  him  and  all  the 
Indians  in  the  neighborhood  of  Wessaguscus. 
Peksuot  gave  this  message  to  Hobomok  to  be  re 
ported  to  Standish:  "Tell  him,  we  know  it,  but  fear 
him  not,  neither  will  we  shun  him;  but  let  him  be 
gin  when  he  dares,  he  will  not  take  us  unawares." 
As  a  natural  result  of  this  condition  of  affairs,  the 
savages  made  immediate  preparation  to  meet  any 
hostile  measures  Standish  might  take  against  them ; 
and,  while  it  would  seem  natural,  as  well,  that  the 
savages  would  have  avoided  the  English  at  that 
time,  they  came,  many  of  them,  and  frequently, 
into  the  Wessagusset  settlement,  and  while  there 
"would  whet  and  sharpen  the  point  of  their 
knives,"  which  sinister  acts  were  accompanied  by 
insulting  gestures  and  words.  Wittuwamat,  espe 
cially,  boasted  of  the  excellent  qualities  of  his 
knife.  Drake  says  that  on  the  end  of  the  handle 
was  pictured  a  woman's  face.  When  Wittuwamat's 
attention  was  called  to  the  picture,  he  said,  "I 
have  another  at  home,  wherewith  I  have  killed 
both  French  and  English,  and  that  one  hath  a 

[155] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

man's  face  on  it;  and  by  and  by  these  two  must 
marry." 

He  further  expressed  himself  in  his  own  language, 
which  sounded  to  the  English  like,  "Hinniam 
namen,  Hinnaim  machen,  Malta  Cuts."  Wittuwa- 
mat  meant  to  say  by  this,  "By  and  by  it  should  see, 
and  by  and  by  it  should  eat,  but  not  speak."  His 
torians  have  it  that  Standish  was  a  man  of  diminu 
tive  stature.  Peksuot  was  a  stalwart  savage.  As 
if  deriding  Standish  for  being  a  little  man,  although 
a  great  captain,  he  said  of  himself,  "Though  he 
was  no  sachem,  yet  he  was  a  man  of  great  strength 
and  courage."  It  is  creditable  to  Standish's  self- 
control  that  he  and  his  men  were  able  to  bear  with 
patience  these  open  insults  of  the  savages.  Stan- 
dish's  design  was  not  to  fight  the  Indians  in  a  body, 
but  to  accomplish  his  end  by  getting  the  ring 
leaders  of  the  plot  into  his  power,  after  which  he 
would  most  summarily  execute  his  purpose.  After 
more  or  less  manoeuvering  he  succeeded  in  getting 
Peksuot  and  Wittuwamat,  with  another  man,  also 
a  youth,  who  was  a  brother  to  Wittuwamat,  into 
one  of  the  Wessagusset  cabins.  Opposed  to  these 
four  savages  were  Standish  and  three  of  his  soldiers. 
Hobomok  was  in  the  party.  The  door  being  "fast 
shut,"  Standish  gave  the  signal.  He  at  once 
attacked  Peksuot,  "snatching  his  own  knife  from 
his  neck,  though  with  much  struggling,  and  killed 
him  therewith,  with  the  point  thereof  made  as 
sharp  as  a  needle,  and  ground  on  the  back  also  to 

[156] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

an  edge."  Wittuwamat  and  his  fellow-savage  were 
killed  by  the  other  white  men.  The  youth,  taken 
alive,  was  then  and  there  hanged  by  the  order  of 
Standish  before  they  left  Wessaguscus. 

Winslow  was  evidently  present.  He  writes:  "But 
it  is  incredible  how  many  wounds  these  two  panieses 
received  before  they  died,  not  making  any  fearful 
noise,  but  catching  at  their  weapons,  and  striving 
to  the  last." *  We  have  noted  that  Hobomok  was  in 
the  room  at  the  time,  although  he  did  not  appear 
to  take  any  part  in  this  melee,  but  was  the  rather 
watchful  for  the  outcome  of  the  fight.  After  it  was 
over,  he  told  Standish  that  Peksuot,  the  day  be 
fore,  had  boasted  to  him  of  his  own  strength  and 
stature,  and  had  said  that  although  Standish  was  a 
great  captain,  he  was  only  a  little  man.  Hobomok, 
unable  to  conceal  his  admiration  of  Standish, 
added,  "I  see  you  are  big  enough  to  lay  him  on  the 
ground."  Standish  ordered  a  portion  of  Wes ton's 
men  to  kill  all  the  Indians  among  them.  They  suc 
ceeded  in  killing  three.  Another  savage  was  killed 
by  the  Standish  party.  They  intended  to  kill  every 

1  Vide  New  English  Canaan,,  vol.  iii. 

"The  Panieses  are  men  of  great  courage  and  wisdom,  and 
to  these  the  Devill  appeareth  more  familiarly  than  to  others, 
and,  as  wee  concieve,  maketh  covenant  with  them  to  preserve 
them  from  death  by  wounds  with  arrows,  knives,  hatchets, 
&c." 

Winslow's  Relation. 

The  Pilgrims  evidently  believed  the  Indian  to  be  super- 
[157] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

Indian  upon  whom  they  could  lay  hands;  but  by 
the  escape  of  one  savage,  through  the  negligence  of 
one  of  the  Weston  party,  their  scheme  was  balked. 
The  Indian  who  got  away  disclosed  the  hostile  in 
tention  of  the  English  to  his  people.  Standish,  with 
Weston's  men,  kept  up  the  pursuit  of  the  fleeing 
savages,  who  were  making  for  a  near-by  rise  of 
ground.  Standish  directed  his  party  to  make  the 
hill,  which  they  did;  and  the  Indians,  after  shooting 
a  few  arrows,  ran  away.  Hobomok  threw  his  coat 
on  the  ground,  and  gave  chase  to  the  savages,  in 
the  pursuit  far  outstripping  the  English.  All  the 
advantage  the  English  got  in  this  foray  was  a  shot 
which  broke  the  arm  of  one  of  the  savages.  The 
Indians  gained  the  shelter  of  a  swamp,  which  ended 
the  enterprise  on  the  part  of  the  English.  Standish 
assisted  the  Wessaguscus  settlers  to  get  away  from 
the  place.  This  accomplished,  on  the  following  day 
the  entire  party  returned  to  Plymouth.  The  Eng 
lish  took  along  with  them  the  head  of  Wittuwamat, 
which  they  set  up  in  their  fort.  A  part  of  the  Weston 
colony  remained  at  Plymouth  permanently,  and  a 
part  went  with  Saunders,  who  sailed  for  the  fishing- 
stations  on  the  Maine  coast. 

naturally  endowed  and  assisted  in  his  malign  subtleties  by 
the  Devil. 

Charlevoix  describes  an  Indian  nation  he  calls  "Panis." 
Some  told  him  that  the  calumet  was  given  by  the  sun  to  the 
Panis,  a  Missouri  nation,  who  when  engaged  in  important 
deliberation  blew  the  smoke  of  their  pipes  toward  the  sun. 

[  158  ] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

Going  back  to  the  story  of  the  man  who  found 
his  way  to  Plymouth  and  advised  the  Plymouth 
people  of  the  condition  of  affairs  at  Wessaguscus, 
the  Indians,  suspecting  the  object  of  his  departure, 
having  in  some  way  become  cognizant  of  the  fact, 
had  him  pursued  by  one  of  their  tribe,  who  had  his 
instructions  to  waylay  him  and  kill  him.  Pratt, 
for  that  was  the  name  of  the  white  man,  by  good 
fortune  strayed  from  the  direct  path,  by  reason  of 
which  the  Indian  missed  him.  Pratt  afterwards 
settled  at  Charlestown,  and  later  petitioned  the 
General  Court  of  Massachusetts  for  assistance, 
setting  out  in  his  narrative,  "the  straights  and 
hardships  that  the  first  planters  of  this  Colony 
underwent  in  their  endeavors  to  plant  themselves 
in  Plymouth,  and  since,  whereof  he  was  one,  the 
Court  judgeth  it  meet  to  grant  him  300  acres  of 
land  where  it  was  to  be  had  without  hindering  the 
plantation."1  His  Christian  name  was  Phineas. 
The  savage  who  followed  Pratt  from  Wessaguscus, 
as  he  returned  from  Manomet,  stopped  on  his  way 
at  Plymouth ;  but  for  all  his  friendly  manner,  which 
evidently  was  assumed  for  the  occasion  as  a  pre 
caution,  he  was  arrested  and  put  in  irons.2  After 

*At  a  court,  3  May,  1665,  land  was  ordered  to  be  laid  out 
for  Prat  "in  the  wilderness  on  the  east  of  Merrimack  River, 
near  the  upper  end  of  Nacook  Brook,  on  the  southeast  of  it.9' 

Court  Files,  State  House,  Boston. 

2  Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  37. 
[159] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

Standish  returned  from  Wessaguscus  the  savage 
was  asked  if  he  could  recognize  the  head  of  Wittu- 
wamat.  When  it  was  shown  him  he  confessed  the 
plot  and  said  that  his  sachem,  Obtakiest,  had  been 
drawn  into  the  conspiracy  by  the  clamor  of  the 
people.  He,  however,  denied  for  himself  having 
any  hand  in  the  plot,  and  begged  that  his  life  might 
be  spared,  alleging  that  he  was  a  stranger  to  the 
Massachusetts  tribe,  and  that  he  knew  nothing  of 
their  plots,  or  practices.  It  is  recorded  that  Hobo- 
mok  interceded  for  him,  and  that  he  was  bribed 
to  do  so.  The  savage  was  spared,  mainly  because 
the  Plymouth  Colony  wished  him  to  carry  to 
Obtakiest  its  message,  in  which  the  Plymouth  peo 
ple  assured  him  the  colony  had  not  intended  to 
engage  in  any  warfare  with  the  Massachusetts;  nor 
did  they  do  so  until  they  were  compelled  by 
treachery.  He  was  further  admonished  that  they 
might  have  themselves  to  thank  for  their  own  over 
throw.  Standish  directed  him  further  to  say  that 
if  the  savages  proceeded  in  this  course,  having  refer 
ence  to  Obtakiest  and  the  savages  under  him,  "his 
country  should  not  hold  him."  He  also  particularly 
charged  his  messenger  to  demand  that  the  three 
Englishmen  that  were  held  captive  should  not  be 
killed,  but  sent  at  once  to  Plymouth. 

It  was  a  long  time  before  an  answer  was  ob 
tained  to  this  message.  Finally  Obtakiest  sent  a 
squaw  to  the  English  to  say  that  he  was  sorry  the 
three  Englishmen  were  killed;  but  he  urged  in  ex- 

[160] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

tenuation  that  this  event  had  taken  place  before 
he  received  the  warning  of  the  Plymouth  people; 
that  none  of  his  men  had  dared  to  come  to  Plym 
outh  to  treat  of  the  matter,  for  that  reason.1 
This  sachem  was  in  great  fear  of  the  English.  He 
abandoned  his  place  of  abode,  and  with  his  people 
moved  daily  from  place  to  place,  not  doubting  but 
the  English  would  follow  him  up  with  a  vindictive 
reprisal  for  the  killing  of  the  white  men.  The  fear 
of  the  sachem  was  as  well  imparted  to  the  members 
of  his  tribe.  Not  being  able  to  stay  in  one  place  for 
any  length  of  time,  or  to  raise  any  crops  by  which 
life  might  be  sustained,  a  large  number  of  them 
died  through  want.  One  gleans  this  story  from 
Winslow's  narrative.  Winslow  says,  having  in 
mind  this  incident,  "It  is  strange  to  hear  how  many 
of  late  have,  and  still  daily  die  among  them,  neither 
is  there  any  likelihood  it  will  easily  cease,  because 
through  fear  they  planted  little  or  no  corn,  which  is 
the  staff  of  life,  and  without  which  they  cannot 
long  preserve  health  and  strength."  Some  of  the 
savages,  driven  by  their  sufferings  to  desperation, 
resolved  to  appeal  to  the  English  governor  for 

1  Morton,  in  his  New  Canaan,  vol.  iii.,  says  these  men  who 
were  killed  went  to  live  with  Chikkataubut's  people.  He  sug 
gests  that  if  the  Plymouth  people  were  really  sincere  in  their 
professed  good  intentions  toward  Weston's  colony  at  Wessa- 
gusacus  they  would  have  made  certain  that  all  the  Wessagus- 
acus  settlers  were  out  of  danger  before  punishing  the  con 
spirators. 

[161] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

pardon,  endeavoring  to  appease  his  anger  towards 
them  by  presents.  Four  of  these  set  out  by  water 
in  a  boat  for  Plymouth.  Their  boat  was  over 
turned  on  the  journey  and  three  were  drowned. 
The  other  went  back  to  his  people. 

When  Mr.  Robinson,  the  father  of  the  Plymouth 
church,  was  informed  how  the  Plymouth  people 
had  carried  this  particular  affair  with  the  Massa 
chusetts,  he  wrote  them  in  relation  to  Captain 
Standish.  From  his  letter  one  infers  that  he  re 
garded  the  action  of  Captain  Standish  as  premature 
and  ill-judged,  if  not  inhuman;  but  he  hoped  the 
Lord  had  sent  him  (Standish)  among  them  for  a 
good  purpose,  if  they  used  him  as  they  ought.  "He 
doubted,"  he  said,  "whether  there  was  not  wanting 
that  feeling  of  tenderness  of  the  life  of  man,  made 
after  God's  image,"  which  is  commendable  in  all 
men,  and  as  well  that  "it  would  have  been  happy  if 
they  had  converted  some  before  they  killed  any." 

In  making  up  a  summary  of  the  relations  of  the 
English  toward  the  Indians  two  things  are  made 
clear.  The  one  is  that  while  the  English  in  their 
earlier  conflicts  with  the  Indians  came  in  contact 
with  them  outside  the  limits  of  their  own  settle 
ments,  their  purpose,  apparently,  was  not  only  to 
kill  as  many  of  the  savages  as  they  could,  but  as 
well  to  intimidate  them  to  that  degree  that  they 
would  hesitate,  as  they  did,  to  become  openly 
aggressive — a  state  of  affairs  which  lasted  until 
Philip  had  obtained  an  assured  sway  over  the 

[162] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

Wampanoags.  The  other  is  that  the  white  settlers, 
constantly  increasing  in  numbers,  found  them 
selves  somewhat  circumscribed  in  their  occupation 
of  the  country  adjacent  to  the  original  settlements, 
and  found  it  necessary  to  occupy  and  improve 
larger  areas,  to  the  exclusion  and  ignoring  of  every 
right  of  the  savage  to  the  lands  of  his  forefathers. 
There  was  never  any  inclination  of  the  English  to 
share  with  the  Indians  any  part  of  the  civilization 
for  which  the  former  stood.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
English  not  only  coolly  and  premeditatedly  de 
spoiled  the  savage  of  his  patrimony,  but  deliberately 
set  to  work  to  compass  his  destruction.  The  Eng 
lish  justified  their  action  on  the  ground  that  their 
right  was  a  God-given  one  to  exterminate  the 
heathen,  which  was  early  crystallized  into  a  "pious 
belief"  that  they  were  the  messengers  of  a  Divine 
Providence,  through  whom  was  to  be  wrought  out 
the  redemption  of  the  land  to  which  they  had  come 
in  the  interests  of  that  religion  which  was  the 
fundamental  of  their  every  code  of  action. _ 

It  is  noticeable  in  the  history  of  the  occupation 
of  the  New  World,  both  by  the  Spaniards  and  the 
Puritans,  who  were  diametrically  opposed  in  their 
religious  tenets,  that  their  right  of  dominancy  over 
the  savage  native  was  supreme  and  incontrovertible. 
Their  plea  was  that  conversion  was  the  primary 
object  of  this  dominancy.  The  Spaniard  gave  the 
savage  the  ultimatum :  the  church,  or  annihilation. 
The  Puritan  avowed  his  purpose  to  be  a  most 

[163] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

charitable  one,  by  which  the  glory  of  God  was  to 
be  vindicated  by  the  imposing  of  its  propaganda 
upon  the  New  World  savage;  and  in  all  the  letters 
of  the  promoters  of  the  earlier  projects  for  the 
establishment  of  settlements  on  the  New  England 
coast  the  plea  is  for  the  conversion  of  the  Indian. 
One  notes  it  in  various  relations  of  Gorges;  it  is 
the  burden  of  the  great  patent  of  the  English  king. 
The  Puritan  failed  of  his  avowed  object,  because, 
once  acquainted  with  the  Indian,  he  saw  the 
futility  of  the  performance;  else  he  was  too  slothful 
in  carrying  out  his  design.  He  began  by  antag 
onizing  the  savage;  and  with  the  whistle  of  the 
first  savage  arrow  he  had  marked  the  men  who 
wielded  this  rude  weapon  for  the  slaughter.  In 
stead  of  being  a  Gospel-bearer,  seeking  the  fruits 
of  peace  and  good-will,  he  clothed  himself  in  the 
garb  of  subtlety,  and,  without  a  spark  of  mercy,  set 
himself  to  the  acquisition  of  the  domains  of  the 
aboriginal  dwellers,  and  their  extermination.  \  The 
Puritan  was  worse  in  this  respect  than  the  Pilgrim. 
While  the  latter  was  no  less  active  in  committing 
those  overt  acts  which  could  have  but  one  result, 
and  that  to  arouse  suspicion  and  even  hatred  in  the 
hearts  of  these  children  of  the  woods,  it  remained 
for  Puritan  John  Mason  to  exemplify  the  Puritan 
creed  of  extinction  for  the  heathen,  when,  during 
the  Pequod  War,  he  wiped  out  an  entire  Indian 
settlement  in  a  holocaust  of  flame.  Between  six 
and  seven  hundred  savages  were  destroyed  by  fire 

[164] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

and  sword;  and  like  some  old  prophet  he  glorifies 
the  destruction  of  these  New  World  Amalekites  in 
these  words:  "Thus  was  God  seen  in  the  Mount, 
crushing  his  proud  enemies." 

The  Indian  was  doomed  from  the  first.  His 
was  an  alien  race  whose  mode  of  living,  whose 
habits,  and  whose  instincts  were  incompatible  with 
every  demand  of  civilization.  The  savage,  to  the 
English  settler,  was  a  wild,  primeval  thing,  as  un- 
tameable  as  the  beasts  that  roamed  the  wilderness. 
In  many  things,  the  savage  to  the  settler  was  a 
mere  beast  of  prey,  a  creature  to  be  avoided.  The 
Indian  was  a  lover  of  the  sun-flecked  woods;  a 
roamer  of  its  mysteries.  He  lived  at  haphazard;  he 
had  no  use  for  highways,  fences,  and  clearings 
that  grew  wider  with  every  year.  His  living  was 
rude  and  primitive;  his  conceptions  were  not  less 
so.  He  was  the  white  man's  opposite,  both  by 
tradition  and  living.  There  could,  in  the  Puritan 
mind,  be  no  amalgamation  of  the  red  race  and  the 
white.  The  civilizing  and  Christianizing  of  the 
savage  were  forgotten  by  the  white  man  once  he 
had  experienced  the  savagery  of  the  Indian's 
method  of  warfare.  One  recalls  the  message  of 
Governor  Cradock  to  Endicott  as  early  as  1629: 
"Be  not  unmindful  of  the  main  end  of  our  Planta 
tion,  by  endeavoring  to  bring  the  Indians  to  a 
knowledge  of  the  Gospel."  He  also  reminded 
Endicott  to  keep  in  mind  to  be  just  and  courteous 
to  the  Indians;  to  win  their  affection  and  their  good 

[165] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

opinion;  and  as  well  to  train  their  offspring  in 
"learning  and  religion."  In  this,  Cradock  but 
follows  the  spirit  of  the  charter  under  which  the 
Massachusetts  Colony  were  able  to  establish  their 
settlements.  The  Puritans,  as  Mr.  Ellis  observes, 
were  "expected  to  be  missionaries  of  the  Christian 
Religion,  and  the  heralds  of  civilization  to  the 
heathen." 

The  early  efforts  of  Eliot  were  crowned  with 
partial  success,  but  he  was  not  whole-heartedly 
sustained,  in  that  while  he  taught  the  gospel  of 
peace,  the  colonists  belied  his  teaching  by  their  acts 
of  aggression. 

\With  the  earliest  voyagers  the  kindness  and 
hospitality  of^  the  New  World  savage  have  been 
proverbial. '  It  was  only  after  the  numerous  kid 
nappings  along  the  coast  that  savages  concealed 
themselves  in  the  recesses  of  the  wilderness,  as  the 
dun  sail  of  the  white  man  broke  through  the  haze 
of  the  ocean's  horizon,  or  sent  down  a  shower  of 
arrows  upon  their  supposed  enemies  from  some 
overhanging  cliff.  The  savage  was  right  in  his 
later  suspicion  of  the  integrity  of  these  strangers 
from  over  the  sea;  and  yet,  the  white  man  resented 
the  treatment,  and  made  it  the  excuse  for  his  subse 
quent  reprisal. 

We  have  alluded  to  the  paramount  right  of  the 
Indians  to  the  soil  of  New  England,  which  was  dis 
posed  of  by  the  king  by  patents  that  not  only  cov 
ered  the  New  England  coast,  but  reached  out  across 

[166] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

the  continent  into  the  interminable  wilderness 
westward.  The  English  idea  of  the  territorial 
rights  of  the  aborigines,  having  reference  to  their 
normal  life,  was  extremely  hazy.  They  were  able 
to  discover  none  of  those  boundaries  or  lines  of 
demarcation  by  which  in  the  country  from  which 
they  came  the  right  of  the  individual  to  the  realty 
was  established.  An  isolated  opening  in  the  woods, 
which  the  savage  used  as  a  corn-field,  but  irregu 
larly  perhaps;  their  scattered  burial-places;  or  a 
straggling  village  of  clustered  wigwams  were  at 
most  the  evidences  of  their  title.  The  English  re 
garded  them  as  transients,  and  so  treated  them. 
With  the  English,  the  two  tests  of  title  were  occu 
pancy  by  prescriptive  right,  or  use  and  adverse 
possession,  and  established  and  visible  monuments 
by  which  metes  and  bounds  were  able  to  be  ascer 
tained.  These  were  the  prerequisites  to  title,  the 
muniments  of  ownership  of  which  others  were 
bound  to  take  cognizance,  the  substitutes  for  a 
more  specific  conveyance  under  seal. 

Of  all  these  the  Indian  was  ignorant.  For  such, 
he  had  no  use.  He  maintained  his  right  by  the 
prowess  of  his  tribe,  and  as  for  landmark,  perma 
nent  structure,  or  improvement,  they  were  at  the 
mercy  of  mute  Nature;  therefore  he  had  neither. 
He  went  where  for  the  time  being  his  living  was 
easiest  to  be  obtained.  Nature  had  taught  the 
savage  only  too  well  the  lesson  of  improvidence. 
A  few  deeds  from  the  aborigine  have  been  pre- 

[167] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

served.  Vast  areas  were  conveyed  for  some  imple 
ment  of  metal,  a  coat,  an  old  kettle,  a  few  trinkets 
that  glittered  in  the  sun,  or  a  strip  of  gaudily 
colored  cloth  —  a  mere  trifle  for  incalculable 
values.  These  titles  were  more  for  conscience' 
sake  than  for  any  special  value  the  settler  attached 
to  them.  The  sachem  assumed  to  sell  the  land  of 
his  tribes  as  he  chose;  but,  if  the  Indians  had  any 
title  that  could  be  conveyed,  all  the  members  of  the 
tribe  must  be  taken  as  co-partners.  There  was 
little  of  honesty  or  fairness  in  any  of  these  transac 
tions,  and  no  one  knew  it  better  than  the  grantee, 
to  whom  the  savage  intended  to  convey  no  more 
than  the  right  to  occupy  the  land  in  common  with 
himself.  When  the  fences  began  to  go  up,  and  the 
white  man  ordered  him  off  the  premises  thus 
fenced  in,  he  knew  he  had  shut  himself  out  from 
his  old  hunting  and  fishing  grounds,  and  he  hated 
alike  the  meager  paper  to  which  he  had  placed  his 
sign-manual,  and  the  white  man  to  whom  he  had 
given  it.  Massasoit  had  been  generous  of  his  lands; 
so  had  Philip.  The  Plymouth  people  had  profited 
much  by  their  generosity;  but  when  the  palings 
began  to  go  up  the  Indian  accepted  them  as  so 
many  affronts,  which  he  found  small  difficulty  in 
resolving  into  deliberate  injuries.  It  was  these, 
along  with  many  other  unfriendly  manifestations, 
that  spurred  the  savage  to  vengeance.  When  the 
Indian  began  to  shun  the  white  man  may  be  reck 
oned  as  the  beginning  of  those  plots  and  conspi- 

[168] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

racies  that  egged  on  the  feuds  between  neighbor 
ing  tribes,  which  gave  occasion  for  conflict  be 
tween  the  savages  themselves;  that  set  the  first 
torch  to  the  desolate  cabin  of  the  white  settler, 
which  was  all  the  excuse  the  English  wished  for. 
The  policy  of  the  white  man  was  to  keep  the  neigh 
boring  tribes  at  war.  They  made  their  alliances 
with  them  as  best  suited  their  purpose.  They  were 
first  allied  against  the  Narragansetts,  and  later, 
with  the  Narragansetts,  against  the  Pequods;  then, 
with  the  Mohegans,  against  the  Narragansetts. 

The  English  policy  with  the  savages  was  tortuous. 
That  could  have  but  one  result;  and  so  far  as  the 
Puritans  were  concerned,  once  engaged  in  a  war 
with  the  savages  they  were  hardly  less  savage  them 
selves,  and  their  hatred  of  the  Indian  was  no  less 
implacable.  The  war  spirit  prevailed  in  the  pulpits 
of  the  times.  It  controlled  legislative  action,  and  it 
furnished  inspiration  for  those  who  left  the  events 
of  those  early  days  in  numerous  Relations  wherein 
their  own  treacheries  and  inhumanities  are  justified 
and  even  lauded  —  the  acts  that  had  avowedly  the 
complete  extermination  of  the  Indians  stamped 
across  their  faces.  To  the  white  the  savage  was  a 
creature  of  romance  and  curious  habit,  until,  upon 
a  nearer  acquaintance,  the  glamour  was  dispelled, 
and  the  white  discovered  the  Indian  to  be  not  so 
different  from  himself  —  more  guileless,  perhaps, 
but  less  civilized.  The  Indian  balked  when  the 
Englishman  endeavored  to  make  him  amenable 

[169] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

to  the  law1  of  the  colony.  Then  came  the  ominous 
signs  of  unrest,  and  finally  open  hostility.  But  they 
had  waited  too  long.  Then  came  the  night  attack, 
the  ambush,  the  torch,  and  the  scalping-knife, 
the  ultimate  solution  of  which  was  to  be  the  ridding 
NewT  England  of  the  red  man. 
^When  the  General  Court  offered  a  bounty  for 
Indian  scalps,  irrespective  of  sex  or  age,  the  climax 
of  the  Puritan  malignity  was  reached.  !  A  letter  of 
the  Rev.  Solomon  Stoddard,  written  to  Governor 
Dudley  shortly  after  the  Deerfield  massacre,  desires 
that  the  English  at  Northampton  "may  be  put  into 
ye  way  to  hunt  Indians  with  dogs,  as  they  doe 
bears."  He  continues:  "If  ye  Indians  were  as  other 
people  are,  and  did  manage  their  war  fairly  after 
ye  manner  of  other  nations,  it  might  be  looked  upon 
as  inhumane  to  pursue  them  in  such  a  manner. 
But  they  are  to  be  looked  upon  as  thieves  and  mur 
derers;  they  doe  acts  of  hostility  without  proclaim 
ing  wyar;  they  don't  appear  openly  in  ye  feeld  to  bid 
us  battle;  they  use  those  cruelly  that  fall  into  their 
hands;  they  act  like  wolves  and  are  to  be  dealt 
withall  as  wolves."2 


*In  July,  1631,  the  Court  ordered:  "The  Sagamore  of 
Agawam  is  banished  from  coming  into  any  Englishman's 
house  for  a  year,  under  penalty  of  10  beaver  skins." 

Prince,  p.  357. 

Manasconomo  was  sagamore  of  Agawam  at  this  time. 

2Mass.  Hist.  Coll,  vol.  iii.,  pp.  235-237. 
[170] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  savages  of  Vir 
ginia  had  practically  exterminated  the  settlers  of 
that  country,  and  that  the  news  came  to  the  Pil 
grims  when  they  were  in  great  distress,  and  possibly 
in  greater  danger.  The  name  "savage"  was  a 
quick  terror  to  women  and  children  after  that,  and 
in  the  hearts  of  the  men  was  a  stern  purpose  to 
retaliate  should  the  occasion  offer.  It  was  slow  in 
coming,  but  it  was  nevertheless  efficacious. 

If  the  Rev.  Mr.  Stoddard  may  be  taken  as  stand 
ing  for  the  sentiment  of  the  clergy  of  those  days, 
what  must  have  been  the  zeal  of  the  layman! 

The  drastic  termination  of  the  Weston  settle 
ment  at  Wessaguscus,  and  the  summary  execution 
of  the  ringleaders  in  the  conspiracy,  of  which 
Wittuwamat  and  Peksuot  were  the  star  actors, 
rounded  out  the  final  episode  in  the  relation  of  the 
Indian  troubles  with  the  settlers  of  Massachusetts 
Bay. 

From  this  time  to  the  open  disaffection  among  the 
Pequods,  who  had  their  habitat  to  the  southward, 
peace  prevailed,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  isolate 
instances  of  punishments  inflicted  by  the  English 
upon  their  own  people,  as  well  as  upon  the  savages, 
for  serious  infractions  of  the  laws  of  the  colonies. 
With  this  survey,  the  situation  during  the  first 
decade  of  the  English  occupancy  of  New  England 
is  closed. 

After  1626  the  number  of  the  English  was  con 
stantly  increasing  about  Massachusetts  Bay.  The 

[171] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

settlements  were  reaching  out  towards  Cape  Ann, 
while  along  the  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island 
shores  were  the  beginnings  of  other  white  settle 
ments. 

In  1630  the  population  of  Plymouth  was  about 
three  hundred;  Salem  had  about  the  same  number. 
Morton  had  his  May-pole  up,  at  Merry  Mount; 
Endicott  was  at  Salem;  between  that  place  and 
Plymouth  wreathings  of  isolate  cabin-smokes  at 
greater  or  lesser  intervals  broke  the  solitude  of  the 
seashore. 

The  settlers  were  taking  up  the  land  under 
King  James  i.'s  patent,  often  fortifying  their  titles 
by  releases  from  the  local  sachems.  The  savages 
about  Massachusetts  Bay  were  apparently  in  a 
fair  way  of  complete  subjugation;  and  if  any  trouble 
was  to  be  apprehended  it  was  most  likely  to  come 
from  those  tribes  to  the  eastward,  of  which  the 
Tarratines,  a  belligerent  tribe  along  the  Penobscot 
River,  both  numerous  and  powerful,  were  the  most 
to  be  dreaded.  The  Penobscots  made  their  excur 
sions  at  the  most  unexpected  times  and  seasons. 
Before  the  death  of  Nanepashemet  they  were  wont 
to  come  in  the  fall,  when  the  corn  was  ripe,  to  reap 
the  harvests  of  the  Massachusetts  for  them.  After 
that  the  Indians  about  the  Piscataquay  River  be 
came  the  object  of  their  predatory  forays.1  They 

*In  the  year  1632,  or  "about  that  time,"  the  Tarratines 
swooped  down  upon  the  Agawams  with  a  great  force  of 

[172] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

ravaged  their  corn-fields,  burned  their  villages,  and 
harried  their  women  and  children  to  seek  the  in 
most  recesses  of  the  wilderness  for  safety.  These 
borderlands  were  in  a  state  of  aboriginal  feud;  nor 


warriors.  They  made  an  attack  upon  Manasconomo,  the 
sagamore  of  that  tribe,  having  for  an  excuse  for  their  foray 
that  he  had  treacherously  killed  "some  of  those  Tarratine 
families." 

Hubbard's  New  England,  p.  145. 

From  another  account  it  appears  that  they  came  against 
the  English,  who  would  possibly  have  been  utterly  cut  off, 
but  for  one  Robin,  a  friendly  savage  of  Ipswich.  The  English 
at  Ipswich  numbered  about  thirty,  and  this  day  upon  which 
the  attack  was  to  be  made  most  of  the  men  were  away  from 
home.  By  some  means  Robin  discovered  their  hostile  inten 
tion  and  went  to  John  Perkins,  to  whom  he  revealed  the 
danger  impending  over  the  little  settlement,  telling  him  that 
four  Tarratines  would  come  into  the  settlement  on  the  pre 
tense  of  trade.  Their  real  purpose  would  be  to  "draw  them 
down  the  hill  to  the  water-side,"  when  forty  canoes  filled  with 
armed  Tarratines  would  make  an  attack  on  them.  It  turned 
out  as  Robin  had  said;  but  the  Indians  were  frightened  off 
by  an  exaggerated  show  of  numbers  on  the  part  of  the  Eng 
lish,  the  beating  of  a  drum,  and  the  noise  of  a  few  muskets. 

Cobbett's  MS.  Narrative. 

John  Perkins  was  quartermaster  of  the  settlement,  "living 
in  a  little  hut  upon  his  father's  island  on  this  side  of  Jeofry's 
Neck." 

MS.  Narrative. 

As  for  Manasconomo,  nothing  more  is  heard  of  this  saga 
more  until  1643,  when  he,  with  Cutshamekin  and  squaw- 
sachem,  Nashacowam  and  Wassamaquin  [Massasoit],  two 

[173] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

were  the  Tarratines  averse  to  preying  upon  the  un 
wary  English  settlers  as  late  as  1631. 

The  year  1632  marked  the  wider  dissemination 
of  the  settlers.  Cammock  was  building  his  manor 
at  Black  Point.  "Cleve  driven  from  his  Spurwink 
lands  was  sulking  where  the  waters  of  Casco  shim 
mered  in  the  autumn  sunshine;  Brown  and  Shurts 
were  at  Pemaquid;  Purchas,  at  Merry  Meeting 
Bay;  Vines  and  Bonighton  were  laying  the  founda 
tion  of  Biddeford  and  Saco  along  the  Saco  tide 
waters."  Hilton  was  planting  corn  on  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Piscataquay;  Mason  and  Gorges  were 
planning  to  open  up  the  country  around  Acco- 
mintas  and  Newichawannock;  Godfrey  was  spying 
out  York  River  for  his  domicile.  Ancient  Shaw- 
mut  had  become  prosaic  Boston,  while  Winthrop 
was  directing  the  affairs  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay 


sachems  near  the  great  hill  to  Wachusett,  desired  to  profit 
by  protection  of  the  English,  upon  the  same  terms  as  had 
other  neighboring  sachems.  "So  we,  causing  them  to  un 
derstand  the  articles,  and  all  the  ten  Commandments  of  God, 
and  they  freely  assenting  to  all,  they  were  solemnly  received 
and  presented  the  Court  with  twenty-six  fathoms  of  wampum, 
and  the  Court  gave  each  of  them  a  coat  of  two  yards  of  cloth, 
and  their  dinner,  and  to  them  and  each  of  their  men,  a  cup 
of  sac  at  their  departure;  so  they  took  leave  and  went  away 
joyful." 

Gookin,  MS.  History  of  Praying  Indians. 

Winthrop  has  a  different  account  of  this  episode. 

Vide  Winslow's  Journal. 

[174] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

Company  at  Salem.  Farther  to  the  eastward,  at 
Pentagoet,  Allerton  had  established  a  trading- 
house  in  the  interest  of  the  Plymouth  people;  so 
that  a  little  more  than  a  decade  had  sufficed  to 
give  the  English  the  apparent  dominancy  of  the 
New  England  coast. 

The  initial  labors  of  the  Plymouth  settlers  ac 
complished,  it  must  be  admitted  that,  in  much  they 
did,  the  end  justified  the  means.  Thrown  upon 
their  own  resources,  without  friends  at  court,  the 
sport  of  circumstances  of  their  own  creation,  they 
were  swayed  by  an  asceticism  as  virile  as  it  was 
senemie.  Their  first  thought  was  ever  of  themselves. 
Nor  were  they  over-selfish,  but,  rather,  a  hard- 
headed,  matter-of-fact  people,  whose  strenuous 
practices  were  but  faintly  colored  by  those  human 
ities  which  are  the  token  of  a  great  purpose.  Nor 
were  they  unlike  others ;  for  they  were  kind  to  their 
own  and  considerate  of  the  stranger  within  the  gate, 
if  he  were  not  a  red  man,  as  far  as  their  means 
would  allow. 

If  there  was  any  defect  in  their  common  polity 
it  was  this  disposition  to  withhold  from  the  abo 
rigine  any  of  the  benefits  which  might  accrue  to 
him  from  closer  contact  with  the  civilization  for 
which  they  themselves  stood.  It  was  an  attitude 
at  once  ungenerous,  reprehensible,  and  unchris 
tian,  for  which  they  were  to  make  an  involuntary 
recompense.  They  had  borrowed  the  seed  from 
the  corn-fields  of  the  red  man  as  the  soldier  of  the 

[175] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

Low  Country  would  have  helped  himself  to  the 
plunder  of  a  vanquished  enemy.  They  had  placed 
their  loans  with  the  New  England  savage  at  usuri 
ous  rates.  The  corn  and  the  lands  were  to  be  paid 
for;  and  while  the  Indian  kept  no  books  of  ac 
count,  his  memory  was  unimpaired  and  his  col 
lections  would  be  made  in  defiance  of  the  statute 
of  limitations,  which  in  his  court  was  no  plea  in 
bar. 

The  character  and  habits  of  the  Indian  suggest 
his  environment.  A  product  of  the  rugged  wilder 
ness,  the  woods  and  streams  —  the  only  schooling- 
he  ever  knew  —  were  inadequate  associations  for  a 
successful  contention  with  the  duplicities  of  the 
white  man.  Whatever  of  kindly  virtues  he  pos 
sessed  were  the  simple  gifts  of  Nature.  Whatever 
of  haughty  stoicism  and  ineptitude  of  speech,  by 
which  he  was  able  to  most  successfully  conceal  his 
emotions,  were  the  natural  expression  of  a  nature 
which  had  been  moulded  in  difficulties  and  amid 
privations, —  a  nature  whose  traits  were  those  of  a 
stern,  yet  simple  and  enduring  purpose. 

The  aborigine  has  been  thought  incapable  of  a 
kindly  sympathy  and  affection.  No  one,  however, 
will  deny  the  savage  something  of  kindly  virtue, 
once  one  recalls  the  sachem  of  the  Sagadahoc  coun 
try,  and  that  other  of  Pokonoket.  The  Indian  has 
been  the  sport  of  the  civilized  annalist.  He  was  a 
creature  to  be  wantonly  provoked  into  a  futile  re 
bellion;  to  become  the  prey  of  mercenary  strangers; 

[176] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

to  be  hunted  like  a  beast  of  the  wilderness  by  greedy 
colonists;  to  invite  indiscriminate  calumny  at  the 
hands  of  religious  bigotry,  once  he  had  been  exter 
minated  by  those  whose  apologists  would  justify 
the  outrages  of  a  frontier  civilization.  The  Indian's 
ignorance  was  his  weakness;  his  inexperience,  his 
undoing;  for,  to  the  Puritan,  he  was  not  only  a 
heathen,  but  an  animate  challenge  to  a  rapacious 
hostility.  To  the  Englishman,  the  Indian  had  no 
rights.  When  he  was  not  being  duped  by  the  former 
he  was  become  an  object  of  persecution, —  a  crea 
ture  toward  whom  no  shred  of  mercy  was  to  be  ex 
tended.  To  the  white  man  he  was  a  degenerate, 
viciously  corrupt,  once  he  had  sounded  the  depths 
of  the  white  man's  hospitality.  Once  an  undis 
puted  lord  of  the  lands  of  his  ancestors,  he  became 
an  exile,  or  an  object  of  sordid  traffic.  He  saw  the 
graves  of  his  people  robbed  and  defaced,  and,  later 
on,  himself  debauched  and  unscrupulously  plun 
dered.  He  has  been  called  cowardly,  treacherous, 
and  cruel.  Obloquy  has  been  heaped  upon  his 
memory  by  the  early  New  England  historians, 
which  has  overshadowed  the  true  character  of  the 
red  man.  The  red  man  and  the  prejudiced  annalist 
have  long  since  disappeared,  but  the  story  of  the 
red  man's  wrongs  and  wretchedness,  which  were 
the  unsavory  heritage  of  his  acquaintance  with  the 
Anglo-Saxon,  is  writ  in  ruddy  stains  across  the 
sun-lit  glades  of  old  Fort  Mystic,  as  it  is  across 
the  night-mists  of  Fairfield  Swamp,  the  atrocities 

[177] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

of  which  the  savage,  in  his  later  raids  of  butchery 
and  reprisal,  was  never  able  to  surpass. 

It  is  Irving  who  says:  "How  different  is  virtue, 
clothed  in  purple  and  enthroned  in  state,  from 
virtue,  naked  and  destitute,  and  perishing  ob 
scurely  in  a  wilderness!" 

But  the  haunts  of  the  savage  have  disappeared. 
The  areas  of  the  mighty  woods  that  afforded  him 
both  subsistence  and  seclusion  have  given  way  to 
the  spell  of  a  new  race.  The  streams  that  swept  sea 
ward,  whose  palpitant  bosoms  knew  only  the  rough 
caress  of  the  storm  or  the  lightsome  keel  of  the 
birchen  canoe,  have  been  waylaid  by  an  alien  spirit 
and  harnessed  to  the  ignoble  tasks  of  men.  Like 
the  Indian  whose  highways  they  were,  they  have 
been  ruthlessly  shorn  of  their  rugged  virginity. 
Only  their  romance  and  tradition  remain  to  the 
forgetfulness  of  a  sordid  utilitarianism.1 


1  The  contemporary  authorities  on  the  Indians  of  New  Eng 
land  are  Smith,  New  England  and  Generall  Historic;  Brad 
ford,  Plimouth  Plantation  (Deane) ;  Mourt,  Relation  (H.  M. 
Dexter) ;  Winslow,  Good  Newes;  G  orges,  Brief e  Narration; 
Winthrop,  New  England;  Higginson,  New  England  Planta 
tion;  Dudley's  Letter;  Young's  Chronicles;  Johnson,  Wonder 
working  Providence  (2  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  ii.);  Wood, 
New  England  Prospect;  Morton,  New  English  Canaan;  Lech- 
ford,  Plaine  Dealing  (3  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  iii.);  Drake, 
Book  of  the  Indians;  Barry,  History  of  Massachusetts;  Eliot, 
Brief  Narrative;  Trumbull,  History  of  Connecticut. 

[178] 


THE  EARLY  SETTLER  AND  THE  INDIAN 

The  account  of  the  Indian  was  to  be  crossed 
out  with  the  knife,  the  torch,  and  the  tomahawk. 

In  June,  1634,  came  the  first  liquidation, —  the 
country  about  Hartford,  Conn.,  was  the  scene  of 
the  first  butchery  by  the  Pequods.  The  storm  was 
soon  over,  and  when  it  cleared  away  the  Pequods 
as  a  race  had  paid  the  penalty  which  all  their  red 
brethren  of  the  wilderness  were  eventually  to  pay 
as  the  price  of  having  been  an  aborigine. 

So  the  Pilgrim  and  the  Puritan  wrought,  side  by 
side,  in  their  state-building;  and  so  they  died, 
having  reached  the  end  of  their  earthly  labors,  in 
blissful  ignorance  of  the  bloody  legacy  they  had 
imposed  upon  their  posterity,  to  whom  the  scroll 
of  the  future  was  to  be  unrolled. 


[179] 


THE   PEQUOD   WAR 


THE   PEQUOD   WAR 

IN  our  consideration  of  the  Pequod  War  it  is 
necessary  to  recur  to  the  earlier  settlements  of 
Connecticut  and  the  first  coming  of  the  English 
into  this  part  of  the  country.  Six  years  before  the 
settlement  at  Plymouth  (1614),  Block,  Corstiaen- 
sen,  and  Mey,  Dutch  navigators,  came  into  these 
parts  upon  an  exploring  expedition.  They  found 
themselves  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson  River, 
where  a  Dutch  settlement,  consisting  of  four 
houses,  had  already  been  commenced  on  Man 
hattan  Island.  At  Manhattan  these  navigators 
separated,  each  to  sail  in  a  different  direction. 
Mey  cruised  about  the  southern  shore  of  Long 
Island,  extending  his  investigation  as  far  south 
ward  as  Delaware  Bay,  while  Corstiaensen  sailed 
in  the  direction  of  the  eastern  New  England  coast. 
Block,  shortly  after  coming  to  the  Hudson,  lost  his 
vessel  by  fire;  but,  undiscouraged,  he  laid  the  keel 
of  a  sloop,  and  when  he  had  completed  it,  got  on 
board  ship,  to  pass  out  through  East  River,1  and 

1  This  little  vessel  was  the  first  built  on  the  New  England 
coast  after  the  pinnace  Virginia  at  Pemaquid.  It  was  forty- 
four  feet,  six  inches  long,  and  had  a  width  of  beam  of  eleven 
feet,  six  inches.  Block  named  his  craft  the  Restless.  It  is 
presumed  that  he  returned  to  Holland  in  it.  To  the  passage 

[183] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

thence  into  Long  Island  Sound.  One  can  imagine 
the  low  reaches  of  shore  on  either  side,  brilliantly 
green,  above  stretches  of  yellow  sand,  while  beyond 
the  outer  edge  was  a  vast  and  unexplored  wilder 
ness  of  woods.  Keeping  his  course  along  the 
Sound,  he  came  to  the  Connecticut  coast,  which 
hitherto  had  not  been  explored.  He  located  the 
Norwalk  River  as  that  of  the  Archipelagoes;  fur 
ther  on,  as  he  came  to  the  Hoostanic,  he  called  it 
"The  River  of  the  Red  Mountain."  Still  further 
eastward  he  found  another  stream,  which  he  named 
Fresh  River.  This  was  the  great  Connecticut. 
Block  explored  this  river  almost  to  the  present  site 
of  Hartford.  Here  he  found  an  Indian  fort  sur 
rounded  by  an  Indian  village  of  the  tribe  of  the 
Nawaas.  Retracing  his  voyage  down  the  stream, 
he  reentered  the  Sound  to  discover  and  explore 
Narragansett  Bay,  which  he  named  Nassau  Bay. 
Here  he  met  the  Nehantics.1  Block  had  discovered 


in  East  River  known  in  these  days  as  Hell-gate,  Block  gave 
the  appellation  of  Hellegat. 

Hudson  was  here  (1609),  and  the  four  houses  at  Manhattan 
were  the  beginnings  of  the  Dutch  at  what  was  to  be  the  capital 
of  the  New  Netherlands. 

O'Callaghan,  vol.  i.,  pp.  72,  73. 

1  The  natives  which  Block  has  designated  as  the  Nawaas 
in  his  relation  of  his  exploration  of  the  region  about  the  Con 
necticut  River  cannot  be  located.  He  calls  the  Nehantics  the 
"Nahicans."  He  describes  them  as  of  a  retiring  shyness;  of 
a  shy  disposition. 

[184] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island.1  After  this  the 
Dutch  traders  came  here  yearly.  A  large  trade, 
which  amounted  often  to  10,000  beaver-skins  in  a 
single  season,  besides  other  commodities  of  the 
country,  was  soon  established  with  the  natives.2 

On  the  Hudson,  the  Dutch  settlements  had  been 
superseded  by  the  West  India  Company  in  1621. 
Eleven  years  later  (1632),  Hans  Eencluys,  of  Man 
hattan,  purchased  land  from  the  savages  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Connecticut  and  proceeded  to  erect  the 
Arms  of  the  States  Governor  of  the  Netherlands. 
It  was  known  as  Kievet's  Hook.3  His  purpose, 

1  Rhode  Island  was  called  by  the  Indians  "Aequidneck." 
According  to  Dr.  Arnold,  that  is  the  spelling  in  the  Indian 
deed  of  a  portion  of  its  territory.  Block  discovered  this  island 
in  1614.  It  was  in  the  autumn  days  he  sailed  over  these 
waters,  and  "the  Leaves  of  the  Trees  and  Shrubs  had,  as  in 
These  Days,  assumed  a  reddish  hue."  He  called  it  "der  Rood 
Eylandt  —  the  Red  Island." 

Moulton,  History  of  New  York,  in  Arnold's  Rhode  Island, 
vol.  i.,  p.  70. 

Hubbard,  Indian  Wars,  vol.  i.,  p.  37,  note. 

Rider  says  the  origin  of  the  name  is  uncertain.  It  was 
known  as  Acquidy. 

Lands  of  Rhode  Island,  pp.  117-121. 

2Winthrop,  vol.  i.,  p.  113. 

3  Kievet's  Hook  was  so  named  from  the  cry  of  the  peweets, 
or  pewees,  which  were  numerous  in  that  country  at  that  time. 
The  Dutch  call  the  pewee  "kieveet." 

DeForest,  Indians  of  Connecticut,  p.  71. 

[  185  ] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

evidently,  was  to  secure  the  trade  of  the  Connecticut 
River,  which  was  more  fully  carried  out  by  Van 
Twiller,  Governor  of  New  Netherlands,  the  next 
year.  He  sent  Jacob  Van  Curler  and  a  party  of 
men  into  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut  with  direc 
tions  to  purchase  land  which  had  been  plotted  pre 
viously  by  Van  Twiller,  upon  which  a  trading-post 
was  to  be  erected  and  fortified.  The  place  chosen 
was  on  the  Connecticut  west  bank  at  that  point 
now  covered  by  the  city  of  Hartford.  The  Dutch 
recognized  the  title  in  the  Indian  tribes,  which, 
however,  was  complicated  from  the  fact  that  the 
Pequods  claimed  the  country  by  right  of  conquest, 
its  former  sachem  having  been  driven  into  exile.1 
Van  Curler  made  his  purchase  of  Wopigwooit,  the 
Grand  Sachem  of  the  Pequods.  Land  by  savage 

lrrhis  part  of  the  country,  before  its  conquest  by  the 
Pequods,  was  ruled  by  a  sachem  who  was  known  as  Sequeen, 
or  Sequassen.  This  sachem  was  driven  into  exile  by  the  fero 
cious  Pequods,  whose  sachem  was  Wopigwooit.  Sequeen, 
about  1633,  sold  a  vast  tract  of  country  about  Hartford  to 
the  English,  probably  through  William  Holmes,  who  set  up 
a  trade  near  the  mouth  of  the  Farmington  River,  in  October 
of  that  year,  in  the  interests  of  the  Plymouth  people.  For  a 
bit  of  barter  with  the  savages  no  adventure  was  too  perilous. 

Wopigwooit  is  described  in  the  treaty  with  the  Dutch  as 
the  chief  of  the  Sickenames  (Mystic)  River,  and  owner  of 
Connecticut.  The  Dutch  were  wholly  for  trade,  hence  their 
effort  to  establish  their  trading-post  as  neutral  ground. 

DeForest,  Indians  of  Connecticut,  p.  71. 

[186] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

conquest  ever  had  an  uncertain  tenure;  but  on 
June  18,  1633,  an  agreement  was  entered  into  be 
tween  the  parties,  and  a  tract  of  land,  a  Dutch  mile 
in  length  along  the  river,  that  extended  back  into 
the  country  less  than  half  a  mile  was  transferred  to 
the  Dutch  by  the  Pequods.  The  price  was  "27  ells 
of  a  kind  of  coarse  cloth  called  duffals,  six  axes, 
six  kettles,  18  knives,  one  sword-blade,  one  pair  of 
shears  and  a  few  toys  or  trinkets."  The  Dutch 
afterwards  made  a  way  for  the  exiled  sachem  to 
return  into  the  country,  and  he  took  up  his  resi 
dence  near  the  Dutch  trading-house.  This  sachem 
was  Sequassen.1  Sequassen  afterwards  disposed 
of  a  large  tract  of  land  about  Hartford  to  the  Eng 
lish.  He  afterwards  became  a  close  ally  to  the 
Narragansetts.  The  conveyance  of  this  land  about 
Hartford  carried  with  it  the  right  of  protection  to 
trade  with  all  the  Indians  of  the  surrounding  coun 
try.  This  particular  territory  was  to  be  peaceful; 
in  it  the  hatchet  was  to  be  forever  buried;  it  was 
agreed  that  within  its  borders  no  savage  was  to 
molest  his  enemy.  A  small  trading-fort  which  Van 
Curler  erected  here  was  armed  with  two  pieces 
of  cannon,  and  was  called  by  him  "The  House  of 
the  Good  Hope." 

The  Pequod  Indians,  afterwards  known  as  the 
most  ferocious  of  the  local  tribes,  very  soon  estab 
lished  their  character  for  treachery  by  breaking  this 

^eForest,  Indians  of  Connecticut,  p.  71. 
[187] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

compact,  which  so  angered  the  Dutch  that,  by  way 
of  punishment,  the  Pequod  sachem  from  whom 
they  had  their  conveyance,  along  with  several  of 
his  men,  were  punished  by  death.  This  sachem 
was  succeeded  by  Sassacus,  who  was  fated  to  be 
the  last  great  man  of  his  tribe.1  He  was  known  as  a 
noble  and  high-spirited  Indian.  The  death  of 
Wopigwooit  was  succeeded  by  a  desultory  conflict 

1  Hubbard  says  of  the  Pequods  (gray  foxes)  that  they  were 
"a  more  cruel  and  warlike  people  than  the  rest  of  the  Indi 
ans,"  and  "a  terror  to  all  their  neighbors."  Though  fewer 
in  number  than  the  Narragansetts,  who  bordered  next  upon 
them,  they  held  the  latter  tribe  in  awe  of  their  unconquerable 
prowess. 

They  held  sway  over  all  the  Connecticut  River  savages. 
They  had  their  seat  of  government  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  New  London.  Drake  says  the  first  great  chief  of  this  nation 
was  Sassacus.  At  the  apex  of  his  power  he  had  many  sachems 
under  him,  of  whom  Uncas  was  formerly  one,  and  his  domain 
extended  from  the  Hudson  River  to  Narragansett  Bay.  Long 
Island  was  also  in  his  bailiwick.  It  was  the  manifest  desire 
of  the  English  in  some  way  to  circumscribe  the  power  of 
this  tribe,  if  not  to  annihilate  it.  The  Pequods  were  a  con 
stant  menace  to  the  extending  of  the  English  colonization  to 
the  Connecticut  Valley. 

Roger  Williams  wrote  Winthrop  minutely  how  the  English 
should  proceed  to  accomplish  this,  and  he  accompanied  his 
communication  with  a  chart  of  the  Pequod  country,  with  its 
rivers,  its  strongholds,  and  villages.  He  recommended  two 
Pequods  (he  had  urged  in  his  letter  that  the  English  "employ 
faithful  guides")  who  had  for  three  or  four  years  lived  with 
the  " Nanhiggonticks "  (Narragansetts),  who  knew  every 

[188] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

between  the  Dutch  and  the  Pequods,  which  lasted 
for  perhaps  a  year  or  more,  and  by  which  the  tra 
ding  of  these  newcomers  was  somewhat  interrupted. 
These  events  have  been  referred  to  as  having  no 
inconsiderable  bearing  upon  the  future  relations  of 
the  Pequods  to  the  white  settler.  The  massacre  of 
Stone  and  his  crew  came  later,  and  resulted  in  the 
loss  of  the  Dutch  trade  and  in  the  Pequods  in 
ducing  the  English  of  Massachusetts  Bay  to  settle 
in  Connecticut — "  Quonehtacut." 

At  this  time  the  English  had  been  located  along 
the  Massachusetts  coast  some  thirteen  years,  and 
their  numbers,  estimated  at  two  thousand,  com 
manded  the  respect  of  the  Indians  of  that  section, 
and  impelled  many  of  the  smaller  tribes  to  seek 
their  assistance  as  a  means  of  protection  from  the 
attacks  of  those  more  powerful.  In  1631  Wahgin- 


pass  and  forest  trail  through,  or  across,  the  Pequod  country. 
The  massacre  of  Captain  Stone  and  his  crew,  and  the  subse 
quent  butchery  of  John  Oldham,  gave  a  sufficient  provoca 
tion.  Nothing,  however,  was  done  at  that  time. 

Hubbard's  Narrative,  vol.  i.,  p.  16. 

Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  104. 

Gookin,  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  vol.  i.,  p.  147. 

Hubbard,  History  of  New  England,  p.  33. 

Dr.  Increase  Mather  says  Wequash  was  a  Pequod  sachem, 
but  in  some  way  dissatisfied  with  his  people.  He  went  to  live 
with  the  Narragansetts,  where  he  became  a  leading  warrior 
under  Miantonomoh. 

Relation,  p.  74. 

[189] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

acut,1  a  Podunk  sachem,  requested  the  English  to 
send  a  colony  into  his  part  of  the  country.  He  ap 
pealed  to  Winthrop,  then  Governor  of  Massachu 
setts  Bay,  offering  to  provide  with  corn,  along  with 
eighty  skins  of  beaver,  such  settlers  as  he  might 
send.  He  suggested  to  Winthrop  that  he  send  two 
men  to  verify  his  statement  as  to  fertility  and 
natural  resources  of  the  country.  It  does  not  ap 
pear  that  Winthrop  was  particularly  interested. 
Concerning  this,  Winthrop  records  in  his  journal 
that  he  afterwards  learned  that  this  sachem  was  a 


1  Drake  says  very  little  is  known  of  the  sachem  Wahginacut, 
except  that  he  lived  somewhere  on  the  Connecticut  River. 
He  came  to  Boston  to  see  Winthrop;  but  for  some  reason  his 
offer  of  eighty  beaver-skins,  yearly,  and  corn  to  meet  the 
necessities  of  the  English  settlers  he  hoped  to  induce  to  colon 
ize  the  Connecticut  Valley  did  not  interest  the  Governor  of 
Massachusetts.  From  a  later  correspondence  with  the  Dutch 
on  the  Connecticut,  it  is  evident  that  Winthrop  had  taken  a 
more  than  ordinary  interest  in  the  Connecticut  prospect. 
Jack  Straw  came  along  with  Wahginacut  as  his  interpreter. 
"Straw,"  says  Drake,  "had  lived  sometime  in  England  with 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh."  How  Sir  Walter  came  by  him  does  not 
satisfactorily  appear.  It  is  as  obscure  as  many  other  things 
the  Indian  story-tellers  state  as  actual  happenings. 

Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  pp.  54,  55. 

DeForest,  Indians  of  Connecticut,  p.  73. 

Winthrop,  p.  62. 

Wahginacut  was  probably  a  Podunk,  one  of  the  river 
tribes. 

DeForest,  Indians  of  Connecticut,  pp.  46-73. 

[190] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

treacherous  savage,  and  at  that  time  was  at  war 
with  the  more  powerful  sachem  Pekoath.1 

Wahginacut,  unsuccessful  with  Winthrop,  be 
took  himself  to  the  Plymouth  people,  with  no  better 
result,  although  their  inclination  was  towards  un 
dertaking  the  settlement.  To  inspire  them  with  the 
proper  degree  of  interest  in  this  offer,  it  remained 
for  the  English  to  learn  of  the  immense  trade  in 
furs  which  the  Dutch  were  carrying  on  amongst 
the  Indians  of  the  Connecticut  Valley.  Winthrop 
wrote  to  Van  Twiller,  making  a  formal  protest 
against  the  Dutch  settling  upon  the  Connecticut 
River,  for  the  reason  that  it  conflicted  with  the 
New  England  charter.  The  result  of  this  was  that 
the  Massachusetts  Bay  people  began  to  send  ves 
sels  to  the  Connecticut  River,  for  the  purpose  of 
trading,  as  early  as  1633.  The  overland  trip  of 


1  Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  54,  note. 

"He  [Governor  Winthrop]  discovered  after  (Wahginnicut 
was  gone,)  that  the  said  sagamore  is  a  very  treacherous  man, 
and  at  war  with  the  Pekoath,  (a  far  greater  sagamore.)  " 

Drake  comments  on  Winthrop's  ignorance,  and  cites 
another  instance.  Drake  confesses  himself  unable  to  locate 
the  name. 

DeForest  notes  that  at  the  time  Connecticut  had  not  been 
settled,  and  supposes  Winthrop  mistook  the  name  of  the 
tribe  for  that  of  a  sachem.  It  is  a  suspiciously  near  cry  to 
Pequot,  a  tribe  mentioned  in  early  colonial  annals  as  the 
Pequin,  or  Pequetan. 

Indians  of  Connecticut,  p.  67,  note. 

[191] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

John  Oldham  to  the  Connecticut  River  is  a  matter 
of  history,1  where  he  was  entertained  most  hospit 
ably  and  was  presented  with  some  fine  beaver- 
skins.  Oldham  carried  back  to  Boston  specimens 
of  hemp  which  grew  wild  in  that  section  of  the 


1  Vide  Barry,  History  of  Massachusetts,  p.  220. 

John  Oldham  was  killed  in  the  neighborhood  of  Block 
Island.  The  crime  fell  at  the  doors  of  six  Narragansett 
sachems.  Neither  Canonicus  nor  Miantonomoh  was  con 
nected  with  the  affair. 

Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  48. 

Canonicus  gave  Oldham  an  island  in  Narragansett  Bay 
on  condition  that  he  (Oldham)  should  dwell  there.  His 
death  prevented  his  acceptance  of  the  gift.  This  island  was 
afterward  offered  to  Roger  Williams  on  the  same  condition, 
but  the  Pequot  War  prevented  further  consideration  of  the 
matter.  The  Bay  colonies,  not  being  able  to  get  satisfaction 
in  the  matter  of  Oldham,  made  it  a  pretense  for  sending  a 
force  of  ninety  men  into  the  Pequot  country  to  punish  them 
for  Oldham's  murder.  This  was  in  1636. 

Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  pp.  48,  50,  58. 

Oldham  had  been  expelled  from  Plymouth  in  1624.  He 
then  settled  at  Nantasket  (Hull),  where  he  was  joined  by 
Roger  Conant  and  some  others.  Oldham's  offence  was 
"plotting  and  writing  against  the  Colony  and  attempting 
to  excite  a  sedition."  Although  banished  from  Plymouth, 
where  his  wife  and  children  were  allowed  to  remain,  he  came 
back,  and  the  company  ordered  him  to  be  punished  with 
blows  from  a  musket.  Described  as  a  "turbulent  man,  and  a 
spy,"  he  remained  at  Nantasket  until  1630,  when  he  went  to 
Watertown,  and  Conant  to  Cape  Ann. 

Baylie,  History  of  New  Plymouth,  pp.  130,  197. 

[192] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

country,  and  also  the  information  that  there  were 
many  desirable  places  of  settlement  upon  which 
many  people  might  be  supported.  Oldham  re 
ported  his  discoveries  to  the  Plymouth  people,  and 
in  July,  1633,  Winslow  and  Bradford  proposed 
to  the  Winthrop  interests  the  establishment  of  a 
trading-place  somewhere  on  the  Connecticut,  for 
the  obtaining  of  hemp  and  furs.  The  proposition 
was  not  favorably  received  by  Winthrop.  Un 
favorable  reports,  to  which  he  gave  a  greater 
credence,  had  reached  him  respecting  the  country. 
Winthrop  declared  the  Connecticut  River  to  be 
controlled  by  tribes  of  warlike  savages,  to  the  num 
ber  of  three  or  four  thousand;  and  he  also  objected 
that  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  was  a  bar  of  such 
shallowness  that  it  was  navigable  only  at  high 
water,  and  even  then  navigation  was  possible  only 
to  smaller  vessels;  and  that,  by  reason  of  the  in 
clemency  of  the  winter  season  the  ice  and  the  un 
usually  strong  current  of  the  stream  seaward  were 
reasons  which  to  him  were  sufficient  to  deter  any 
enterprise  on  their  part  in  that  direction. 

This  representation  of  Winthrop,  instead  of  dis 
maying  the  Plymouth  people,  rather  reenforced 
their  purpose  to  effect  a  settlement  in  their  own  be 
half;1  and,  the  following  October,  a  vessel  was  sent 
into  the  Connecticut  River,  with  William  Holmes, 

1  The  Plymouth  people  were  much  exercised  over  the  Dutch 
occupation  of  the  Connecticut  River.  It  had  been  commended 

[193] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

master,  and  a  small  company  of  men;  and  on  the 
deck  of  the  vessel  was  the  frame  of  a  house.  Holmes 
entered  the  Connecticut  without  difficulty,  pushed 
his  vessel  up  the  river  past  the  Dutch  fort  at  Hart 
ford,  indifferent  to  remonstrances  or  threats  on  the 
part  of  the  Dutch  garrison,1  and  proceeded  to  erect 
his  trading-house  in  what  is  now  Windsor,  a  little 
below  the  junction  of  the  Farmington  stream  with 

to  the  former  as  a  "fine  place  for  habitation  and  trade." 
Overtures  had  been  made  to  them  "by  a  company  of  Indians 
who  had  been  driven  out  by  the  Pequots;"  and,  "being  in 
some  better  situation  as  to  their  affairs,  they  began  to  send 
that  way."  These  savages  had  been  to  Winthrop,  but  for 
them  it  had  proved  a  bootless  errand.  Two  years  later,  June, 
1633,  Bradford  and  Winslow  went  to  Boston  to  interest 
Winthrop  in  preventing  the  Dutch  from  building  a  fort 
"twenty  leagues"  up  the  Connecticut.  Winthrop,  over-pol 
itic,  declined  interfering.  Winthrop's  policy  was  always  to 
wait.  He  drove  a  better  bargain  with  a  man  who  had 
wearied  under  his  load.  Notwithstanding  Winthrop's  decli 
nation,  the  Plymouth  people,  in  October  of  that  same  year, 
despatched  William  Holmes  in  a  small  vessel  to  take  posses 
sion  of  the  Connecticut  country. 

Barry,  History  of  Massachusetts,  First  Period,  p.  216. 

Winthrop,  vol.  i.,  p.  125. 

Hutchinson,  vol.  i.,  p.  148. 

Hubbard,  p.  170. 

Trumbull,  vol.  i.,  p.  29. 

Broadhead,  New  York,  pp.  237,  240. 

1  Bradford  says:  "But  ye  Dutch  begane  now  to  repente,  and 
hearing  of  their  purpose  &  preparation,  indevoured  to  pre- 
vente  them,  and  gott  in  a  little  before  them,  and  made  a 

[194] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

the  Connecticut.  When  Holmes  returned  to  Plym 
outh  he  brought  with  him  one  of  the  sachems  of 

slight  forte,  and  planted  2.  peeces  of  ordnance,  thretening  to 
stopp  their  passage.  But  they  having  made  a  smale  frame  of 
a  house  ready,  and  haveing  a  great  new  barke,  they  stowed 
their  frame  in  her  bed  [hold]  &  bords  to  cover  &  finish  it, 
haveing  nayles  &  all  other  provisions  fitting  for  their  use.  .  .  . 
When  they  came  up  ye  River  to  trade  ye  Dutch  demanded 
what  they  intended  &  whither  they  would  goe;  .  .  .  they 
bid  them  strike  &  stay,  or  els  they  would  shoote  them ;  &  stood 
by  their  ordnance  ready  fitted.  ...  So  they  passed  along  & 
though  the  Dutch  sent  word  home  to  ye  Monhalas  what  was 
done  :&  in  process  of  time,  they  sent  a  band  of  aboute  70. 
men  in  warlike  maner,  with  collors  displayed,  to  assaulte 
them;  but  seeing  them  strengthened,  &  that  it  would  cost 
blood,  they  came  to  parley  &  returned  in  peace." 

Bradford,  Journal,  p.  373. 

When  the  party  under  Holmes  had  sailed  up  the  river  as  far 
as  the  Dutch  fort,  a  slight  entrenchment,  the  Dutch  ordered 
them  to  sail  down  the  river  the  way  they  came;  but  Holmes 
kept  on  up-stream,  landing  at  the  mouth  of  Little  River, 
where  he  set  up  the  house  brought  from  Plymouth  and  forti 
fied  it  with  a  "strong  palisade."  The  Dutch  gathered  a  force 
with  the  determination  to  dislodge  Holmes;  but  the  English 
showed  a  disposition  to  fight,  so  the  Dutch,  after  sailing  up 
the  river  and  displaying  the  usual  amount  of  Dutch  courage, 
simply  betook  themselves  down-stream,  and  the  first  English 
colony  on  the  Connecticut  was  established. 

Baylie,  History  of  Plymouth,  pp.  218,  219. 

Winthrop,  vol.  i.,  pp.  113,  134. 

Bradford,  Prince's  edition. 

Hubbard,  p.  172. 

Trumbull,  pp.  33,  36,  111. 

Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  p.  262. 

[195] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

the  country,  who  had  been  exiled  by  the  Pequods.1 
By  so  doing  a  distinct  affront  was  offered  the  Pe 
quods,  who  held  this  portion  of  the  Connecticut 
Valley  by  conquest,  and  who  had  subjugated  the 


1On  his  return  voyage  to  Plymouth  Holmes  took  along  with 
him  one  of  the  sachems  who  had  been  dispossessed  by  the 
Pequots.  It  was  of  this  same  sachem  that  Holmes  purchased 
the  country  about  the  Farmington  River,  thus  ignoring  the 
title  of  the  Pequots  which  had  before  been  recognized  by  the 
Dutch.  Possibly  he  was  able  to  drive  a  better  trade.  It  was, 
however,  a  mistake  on  the  part  of  Holmes.  This  country  be 
longed  to  the  Pequots  by  right  of  conquest.  The  validity  of 
their  title  had  been  acknowledged  by  the  Dutch,  as  it  was  as 
well  confirmed  by  ancient  custom.  The  savages  were  very 
punctilious  in  all  matters  of  ownership,  especially  of  boundary- 
lines.  Between  the  Narragansetts  and  the  Pequots  these  were 
most  faithfully  observed. 

DeForest,  p.  76. 

It  was  about  this  time  a  conflict  broke  out  between  the 
Narragansetts  and  the  Pequots  over  the  right  to  lands  between 
the  Paucatuck  River  and  Wecapaug  Brook.  This  was  a  tract 
of  country  some  ten  miles  wide  and  twice  as  long.  Canonicus 
attracted  to  himself  a  number  of  Massachusetts  sachems  and, 
altogether,  they  kept  up  the  savage  broil  until  1635,  when  the 
Pequots  were  compelled  to  give  in  their  pretensions.  Canon 
icus  afterward  gave  this  land  to  Sochoso,  a  Pequot  who  had 
espoused  the  cause  of  the  former,  who  as  well  made  this 
Pequot  a  chief  among  the  Narragansetts. 

Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  51. 

Roger  Williams  says  the  Indians  are  "very  exact  and 
punctual  in  the  bounds  of  their  lands,"  .  .  .  "even  to  a  river 
or  a  brook." 

[196] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

savages  who  held  the  country  before  them.1  The 
Pequods  were  incensed  against  the  English  be 
cause  they  had  taken  their  title  to  this  part  of  the 
country  from  those  whom  the  former  had  van 
quished  in  war,  which,  though  a  praiseworthy  per 
formance,  could  hardly  be  regarded  as  a  stroke  of 
diplomacy;  but  the  English  had  preferred  to  recog 
nize  the  original  owners  of  the  soil,  and  for  some  rea 
son  had  seen  fit  to  ignore  the  claims  of  the  Pequods. 
Possibly  the  English  may  have  regarded  the  Pe 
quods  as  trespassers,  and  it  may  have  been,  by  re 
fusing  to  accept  the  rights  of  the  Pequods  to  convey, 
they  thought  they  might  be  better  able  to  dispute 
the  claims  of  the  Dutch,  who  held  their  title  under 
the  Pequods.  It,  however,  planted  a  germ  of  hos 
tility  which  was  later  to  develop  into  the  overt  act. 
About  this  time  the  Connecticut  coast  was  prov 
ing  very  attractive  to  traders,  and  it  was  in  the 
summer  of  1633  that  a  small  vessel  sailed  up  from 
Virginia  to  trade  along  the  New  England  coast. 
The  master  of  this  vessel  was  one  Captain  Stone, 
and,  like  many  adventurers  of  the  times,  he  was  of 
dissolute  habit.  He  was  in  Massachusetts  Bay  for 
a  short  time,  where  his  disorderly  behavior  made 
some  trouble  for  the  magistrates.2  From  Massa- 

1  Prince,  Chronicles,  pt.  ii.,  sec.  2 
New  England  Memorial,  1633. 
DeForest,  p.  76. 

2  When  Stone  was  at  Boston  he  was  served  with  a  process 

[197] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

chusetts  Bay  he  set  sail  for  the  Connecticut  River 
with  a  Captain  Norton  and  a  crew  of  seven.  Once 
at  the  Connecticut  River,  Stone  began  his  trade 
with  the  natives,  who,  apparently  friendly,  came 
and  went,  or  loitered  about  the  vessel,  as  their 
fancy  happened  to  be.  One  day  three  of  the  crew 
were  on  shore  after  wild  fowl.  Stone  was  on  his 
vessel,  asleep  in  his  cabin.  There  were  some 
Indians  on  the  deck,  among  whom  was  their 
sachem.  The  crew,  unsuspicious  of  danger,  were 
engaged  in  the  galley.  The  three  men  on  shore 
were  attacked  and  killed.  On  the  vessel  the  sachem 
brained  the  sleeping  captain,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
the  savages  who  kept  him  company  had  seized  the 
muskets  of  the  English.  One  of  the  crew  aimed  a 
musket  in  his  own  defence.  So  fearful  were  the 
savages  of  these  weapons  in  the  hands  of  a  white 
man  that  they  dropped  over  the  rail  into  the  water 
and  swam  for  shore.  In  some  way  a  store  of  powder 
was  ignited,  and,  exploding,  destroyed  the  vessel 

which  he  avoided  by  sailing  for  Plymouth  to  effect  a  com 
promise.  In  his  dispute  with  the  governor  he  lost  his  temper 
and  made  an  effort  to  stab  Winthrop;  but  was  prevented  by 
the  latter's  attendants.  After  this  he  went  to  Connecticut, 
accompanied  by  Captain  Norton.  Before  the  attack  by  the 
savages  Norton  had  set  out  some  powder  on  a  table,  and  in 
the  melee  with  the  Pequots  it  became  ignited.  The  explosion 
blinded  Norton,  so  that  he  was  easily  taken  advantage  of  and 
killed. 

Baylie,  History  of  Plymouth,  p.  215. 

[198] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

and  most  of  the  crew.  A  few  moments  later  the 
Indians  had  returned,  gained  the  deck,  and  had 
killed  those  who  had  remained  alive,  after  which 
they  plundered  the  ship.1  The  perpetration  of  this 
attack  upon  Stone  was  charged  to  the  Pequods, 
and,  while  it  merited  a  swift  punishment,  the  Eng 
lish  passed  it  over  with  an  appearance  of  indiffer 
ence.  The  time  was  not  far  distant  when  they 
would  have  the  opportunity  of  demanding  ample 
satisfaction. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  Pequods  at  this  time 
had  possibly  reached  the  climax  of  their  power  and 
influence.  Whether  or  not  they  were  guilty  in  the 
inception,  or  in  the  actual  carrying  out,  of  this  at 
tack  upon  Captain  Stone  and  his  crew  does  not 
particularly  matter.  Their  career  of  success  on  the 
war-path,  and  in  the  subjugation  of  the  surrounding 
tribes,  from  this  time  on,  seems  to  have  been  re 
versed.  They  were  unable  to  control  the  Narra- 
gansetts  as  formerly,  or  even  to  keep  them  within 
their  bounds.  The  sovereignty  of  Block  Island  had 
passed  from  them  to  the  Nehantics.2  The  tribes 
along  the  upper  waters  of  the  Connecticut,  encour 
aged  by  the  advent  of  the  Dutch  and  English 


1Winthrop,  vol.  i.,  p.  123. 
Stone  was  a  West  Indian  of  St.  Christopher. 

2Ninigret  was  the  sachem  of  the  Niantics,  a  tribe  of  the 
Narragansetts.  Their  habitat  was  Wekapaug  (Westerly, 
R.  I.) .  He  was  a  cousin  to  Miantonomoh.  He  was  also  known 

[199] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

traders  into  the  region,  and  perhaps  instigated  in 
some  degree  by  the  Dutch,  had  thrown  off  their 
allegiance  to  the  Pequods.  Wopigwooit1  was  dead 
—  a  fact  which  the  Mohegan  sachem,  Uncas,  un 
doubtedly  discounted  to  his  own  advantage  by  en 
gaging  in  rebellion.  The  result  of  the  difficulties 
which  arose  between  the  Pequods  and  the  Dutch 
resulted  in  a  loss  of  a  number  of  warriors  to  the 
former;  and  it  as  well,  in  a  degree,  broke  up  their 
intercourse  with  the  Dutch,  which  was  not  only  a 
loss  to  them  in  the  way  of  trade,  but  also  a  loss  of 
some  considerable  influence.  This  conflict  be 
tween  the  Dutch  and  the  Pequods  continued  for 
some  time,  wrhen  Sassacus  made  overtures  to  the 
English  for  their  friendship  and  their  trade. 

as  Janemo.  The  Niantics  were  supposed  to  have  been  im 
plicated  with  the  Pequots  in  the  massacre  of  Stone  and  his 
crew. 

Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  pp.  60,  67. 

Roger  Williams,  Letters. 

1  Wopigwooit  was  the  father  of  the  famous  Sassacus.  The 
Pequots  did  not  observe  the  conditions  of  their  treaty  with 
the  Dutch, —  that  the  fort  of  the  latter,  and  the  lands  appurte 
nant  to  it  under  their  jurisdiction,  were  to  be  absolutely  neu 
tral;  for  they  killed  some  of  their  savage  enemies  within  the 
Dutch  territory,  which  so  incensed  the  latter  that  they  killed 
Wopigwooit  and  several  of  his  warriors.  This  act  on  the  part 
of  the  Dutch  was  possibly  the  cause  of  the  attack  on  Stone. 
It  was  the  loss  of  the  Dutch  trade  that  led  the  Pequots  to 
offer  inducements  to  settle  in  the  Connecticut  Valley. 

DeForest,  History  of  the  Indians  of  Connecticut,  pp.  67,  73. 

[200] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

In  October,  1634,  a  Pequod  came  into  the  Bay 
settlement.  He  brought  the  usual  gifts,  which  he 
presented  to  Ludlow,  at  that  time  deputy-governor. 
He  supplemented  these  by  indicating,  with  two 
bundles  of  sticks,  the  number  of  beaver  and  other 
furs  which  the  Pequods  would  give  the  English, 
and  also  proffered  a  considerable  amount  of 
wampum,  to  be  delivered  later.  Following  this, 
he  demanded  an  alliance  with  his  people  on  the 
part  of  the  English.  Ludlow  accepted  the  message 
and  the  gifts.  In  return,  he  presented  the  Pequod 
with  a  coat  made  of  moose-skin.  Ludlow  was  not 
disposed  to  treat  with  this  messenger,  and  by  him 
sent  word  back  to  Sassacus  that  his  respect  for  the 
English  would  be  better  shown  if  he  sent  deputies 
of  higher  rank  than  the  one  he  had  chosen;  and  he 
must  also  send  a  number,  if  he  was  really  serious 
in  his  desire  to  make  a  treaty  with  the  English. 
That  would  be  necessary  before  he  could  treat  of 
the  matter  with  the  authorities  of  the  colonies. 

This  was  in  accordance  with  the  usages  of  the 
Indians;  for  in  sending  their  embassies  to  other 
tribes  or  nations  of  any  importance,  these  honors 
were  given  to  individuals  \vho  were  entitled  to  that 
distinction  by  reason  of  their  rank  and  considera 
tion  in  their  own  tribe. 

Two  weeks  later  Ludlow  was  visited  by  two 
Pequod  sachems,  bearing  another  present.  They 
were  received  by  the  deputy,  and  by  him  taken  to 
Boston.  Negotiations  were  opened,  although  in  the 

[201] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

absence  of  Dudley.  Ludlow  told  the  Pequods  that 
the  English  desired  peace  with  their  tribe;  but  that 
it  was  useless  to  talk  about  a  treaty  or  alliance  with 
their  people  until  the  Pequods  had  given  up  the 
murderers  of  Stone  and  had  recompensed  the 
colony  for  the  destruction  of  Stone's  vessel  and  the 
plunder  which  they  had  taken  from  it.  Neither  of 
the  sachems  denied  the  responsibility  of  their 
nation  for  the  crime,  but  based  their  defence  upon 
the  statement  that  Stone  had  brought  the  trouble 
upon  himself  and  his  crew  by  his  own  meddlesome 
conduct.  They  charged  Stone  with  having  taken 
two  Indians  captive,  whom  he  conveyed  to  his 
vessel  for  the  purpose  of  compelling  them  to  show 
him  the  way  up  the  river.  They  admitted  killing 
the  men  ashore,  wrho  were  after  wild  fowl,  but  they 
denied  having  anything  to  do  with  the  destruction 
of  the  vessel  or  the  killing  of  Stone.  They  inti 
mated  also  that  Sassacus  might  be  induced  to  de 
liver  up  to  the  English  two  of  the  alleged  perpe 
trators  of  this  crime,  provided  they  could  be 
proven  guilty. 

This  story  was  told  by  these  two  ambassadors 
with  so  much  semblance  of  truth  that  the  Eng 
lish,  who  had  no  evidence  otherwise,  were  of  a 
disposition  to  accept  it.  In  the  end,  a  treaty  was 
agreed  upon,  and,  being  put  into  proper  shape,  was 
signed  by  both  parties.1  As  usual,  the  English  were 

lfriiis  treaty  hardly  had  been  entered  upon  before  Boston 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

to  profit  by  the  connection,  materially;  for  they 
were  to  have  whatever  land  in  the  valley  of  the 
Connecticut  they  needed,  provided  they  would 
make  a  settlement  upon  the  same.  The  Pequods 
were  to  render  them  all  possible  aid  in  effecting 
this  settlement,  also  to  surrender  the  perpetrators 
of  Stone's  murder  whenever  the  English  should  see 
fit  to  demand  them;  and  in  addition,  to  pay  the 
English  forty  beaver-skins,  thirty  otter,  and  four 

was  thrown  into  a  complication  of  sensations  by  the  report 
that  a  considerable  force  of  Narragansetts,  some  two  or  three 
hundred  in  number,  were  at  Neponset  for  the  purpose  of  way 
laying  the  Pequot  messengers  who  had  left  Boston  upon  their 
return  journey  into  their  own  country.  The  Boston  citizens 
were  armed  and  marched  promptly  to  Neponset  with  a  mes 
sage  from  Governor  Winthrop  that  he  wished  them  to  come 
to  Boston  for  a  "talk." 

When  the  English  reached  Neponset  they  found  there  two 
sachems,  accompanied  by  some  twenty  warriors,  who  ex 
plained  their  presence  by  saying  they  had  been  hunting,  and 
had  come  to  Neponset  on  a  friendly  visit  to  some  of  their  ac 
quaintances  among  the  Neponset  tribe.  It  matters  not 
whether  the  story  was  true  or  false;  they  allowed  the  Pequots 
to  go  their  way  unmolested. 

DeForest,  p.  81 

The  Boston  Colony  undertook  to  establish  a  peace  between 
these  two  tribes.  They  even  offered  to  divide  with  the  Narra 
gansetts  the  wampum  which  the  Pequots  were  to  pay  under 
the  treaty.  This  was  as  had  been  agreed  with  the  Pequots. 
Some  authorities  have  offered  this  incident  to  show  the  emi 
nent  fairness  which  actuated  the  English. 

[203] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

hundred  fathoms  of  wampum.1  They  agreed,  fur 
ther,  to  bring  to  the  English  all  their  furs,  in  con 
sideration  for  which  the  English  were  to  send  a 
vessel  into  the  Connecticut  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
trade.  They  were  not  to  be  called  into  any  conflict 
in  which  the  Pequods  might  see  fit  to  engage.  Such 
was  the  purport  of  the  agreement  between  the 
Pequods  and  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  con 
summated  in  November,  1634. 

1  Winthrop,  vol.  L,  pp.  147,  149. 

The  Plymouth  settlers  obtained  their  knowledge  of  wam 
pum  from  the  Dutch,  in  1627.  De  Razier,  a  Dutch  factor 
from  New  Amsterdam,  came  over  to  make  the  Plymouth 
people  a  visit.  He  was  received  and  treated  with  great  cere 
mony.  Before  he  sailed  away  for  Manhattan  he  sold  them  fifty 
pounds',  sterling,  worth  of  wampum,  commercial  value.  For 
two  years  it  remained  on  their  hands;  but  afterward,  from  be 
ing  an  unsaleable  commodity,  it  became  an  important  me 
dium  of  trade,  especially  with  the  Indians  inland,  who  did  not 
understand  its  manufacture.  "  Wompompague"  says  Gookin, 
"is  made  artificially  of  a  part  of  the  wilk's  shell:  the  black  is 
double  the  value  of  the  white.  It  is  made  principally  by  the 
Narragansett  and  Long  Island  Indians.  Upon  the  sandy  flats 
and  shores  of  those  coasts,  the  wilk  shells  are  found." 

Roger  Williams  classes  wampum  as  the  Indian's  money. 
He  describes  it  in  one  of  his  tracts,  —  "One  fathom  of  this, 
their  stringed  money,  is  worth  five  shillings.  Their  white 
money  they  call  wampum ;  their  black  suckawhock,  suki  signi 
fying  black." 

The  wilk  is  undoubtedly  the  quahaug.  It  is  a  deep-sea 
bivalve,  and  not  infrequently  is  washed  in  shore  by  the  heavy 
storms.  This  description  is  taken  from  a  contemporary  ob- 

[204] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

The  people  of  New  Plymouth  may  be  considered 
the  first  English  settlers  of  this  part  of  the  country, 
although  the  name  of  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall  and 
as  well  that  of  John  Hampden  are  connected  with 
the  earliest  relations  of  Connecticut.1  Both  Dutch 
and  Pilgrims  claimed  to  be  the  legal  owners  of  the 
soil  —  a  state  of  affairs  that  led  to  a  commission 
being  issued  to  the  eldest  son  of  Governor  Winthrop, 
as  one  of  the  grantees  under  the  Earl  of  Warwick, 
to  enter  and  occupy  the  territory.  It  seemed  in 
evitable  that  there  should  be  controversy,  and,  as 
a  result,  the  Massachusetts  Colony  was  led  later  to 

server  of  1760:  "In  my  way  I  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing 
the  method  of  making  wampum.  It  is  made  of  a  clam-shell; 
a  shell  consisting  within  of  two  colors,  purple  and  white,  and 
in  form  not  unlike  a  thick  oyster-shell.  The  process  of  manu 
facturing  it  is  very  simple.  It  is  first  clipped  to  a  proper  size 
which  is  that  of  a  small  oblong  parallelepiped,  then  drilled, 
and  afterwards  ground  to  a  round  smooth  surface  and  pol 
ished.  The  purple  wampum  is  much  more  valuable  than  the 
white;  a  very  small  part  of  the  shell  being  that  color." 

Thacher,  History  of  Plymouth,  p.  69. 

1  Not  long  after  the  massacre  of  Captain  Stone  a  vessel  be 
longing  to  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall  came  into  Boston  Harbor. 
It  was  on  the  way  to  Connecticut,  where  it  was  intended  to 
plant  a  colony.  This  was  furthered  by  Lord  Say  and  Seal 
and  Lord  Brook  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Lion  Gardener, 
who  built  the  fort  at  Saybrook. 

Barry,  History  of  Massachusetts,  vol.  i.,  p.  218. 

Winthrop  writes,  1631 :  "Mar.  29th,  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall 
and  two  daughters,  and  one  of  his  younger  sons,  (his  two  eldest 

[205] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

take  definite  measures  in  consequence  of  the  re 
moval  of  certain  of  its  inhabitants,  notably  around 
Newtowne  and  Dorchester,  into  Connecticut. 
These  people  made  their  way  to  Mitteneag  (Wind 
sor),  where  Holmes  had  built  a  trading-house. 
The  people  from  Massachusetts,  from  time  to 
time,  had  complained  to  Winthrop  of  lack  of  room. 
They  had  petitioned  for  the  colony's  permission 
to  go  into  Connecticut,  but  Winthrop  refused.  A 
little  later  a  ship  of  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall's  came 
into  Boston,  which  afterwards  was  sent  up  the 

sons  remained  in  the  country,)  came  down  to  Boston,  and 
stayed  that  night  at  the  Governour's,  and  the  next  morning, 
by  seven  of  the  clock,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Pierce  and  others 
in  two  shallops,  they  departed  to  go  in  the  ship  riding  to 
Salem." 

Life  and  Letters  of  John  Winthrop,  p.  62. 

In  the  latter  part  of  May  following,  Saltonstall  sailed  for 
England.  Palfrey  says  (History  of  New  England,  vol.  i.,  p. 
366)  that  he  was  expected  to  return  in  1633,  as  he  was  elected 
an  assistant  at  the  May  election. 

Though  Saltonstall  never  returned  to  New  England,  he 
had  always  the  welfare  of  the  colony  at  heart.  He  was  actively 
engaged  with  Lords  Brook  and  Say  and  Seal  and  "other 
Puritans"  in  promoting  the  first  settlement  in  Connecticut. 
A  portrait  of  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall  by  Rembrandt  is  still 
cherished  by  his  descendants;  but  even  more  famous  than  that 
is  the  letter  by  him  against  intolerance,  about  the  year  1650, 
which  had  in  some  degree  the  effect  it  was  intended  to  have 
by  its  author. 

Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  4th  Series,  vol.  iii.,  pp.  171,  172. 

Vide  note  to  Winthrop's  Life  and  Letters,  p.  61. 

[206] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

Connecticut  River  "to  plant  at  Connecticut." 
The  Dorchester  people  went  overland,  and  they 
had  found  their  way  to  Windsor  and  were  settled 
when  Saltonstall's  ship  arrived.  This  was  early  in 
the  year  1635.1  In  the  fall  they  were  followed  by 
another  contingent  from  Newtowne,  of  about  sixty. 
These  people  in  Connecticut  suffered  even  greater 
privations  than  the  Plymouth  people.  In  the  spring 
another  reenforcement  was  sent  out  from  New 
towne,  and  in  the  autumn  of  that  year  the  Dor 
chester  church  was  removed  to  Windsor.  That 
same  summer  a  commission  was  sent  to  John  Win- 
throp,  Jr.,  to  treat  with  the  Pequods  who  had  mur 
dered  Captain  Stone  and  his  companion  Captain 
Norton.  Reference  has  been  made  to  the  presents 
which  were  brought  to  Winthrop,  and  the  Pequods 
were  to  be  informed  that  if  they  refused  to  make 
reparation  for  this  crime  their  presents  would  be 
returned,  accompanied  with  a  declaration  of  war. 
The  Pequod  warriors  at  that  time  were  estimated 
at  about  seven  hundred,  and  when  this  message 
from  the  English  was  received,  if  they  ever  had  any 
friendly  feelings  towards  the  latter,  it  is  not  to  be 
doubted  that  they  were  at  once  changed  to  those  of 


says  that  in  August,   1635,  the  Indians  "in 
humanly  murdered  a  Mr.  Weeks  and  his  whole  family,  con 
sisting  of  a  wife  and  six  children,  and  soon  after  murdered  the 
wife  and  children  of  a  Mr.  Williams  residing  near  Hartford." 
Indian  Wars,  p.  47. 

[207] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

hatred  and  revenge.  Perhaps  the  most  tragic  inci 
dent  of  the  time  was  the  murder  of  John  Oldham 
(1636)  by  some  of  the  Block  Island  savages.  His 
vessel  was  robbed,  and  his  two  boys  were  taken 
captives.1  Roger  Williams  made  some  inquiry  into 
this  affair,  and  Canonicus  sent  three  messengers  to 
Governor  Vane  with  a  letter  in  which  Mr.  Williams 
set  out  the  particulars  of  this  tragedy.  One  of  these 


Oldham  was  of  Dorchester.  This  massacre  was  a 
source  of  much  trouble  between  the  English  and  the  savages. 
The  crime  was  discovered  and  punished  by  a  trader  along 
shore,  one  John  Gallop.  He  was  on  his  way  from  Connecticut 
to  Long  Island.  Sailing  near  Mannisses,  he  saw  Oldham  's 
pinnace  manned  by  sixteen  savages.  Alongside  was  a  canoe 
with  other  Indians  in  it.  It  was  loaded  with  plunder  from  the 
pinnace,  and  was  just  pushing  off  for  the  shore.  Gallop 
knew  it  for  Oldham's  craft  at  once,  and,  changing  his  course, 
he  came  up  with  her  and  hailed  the  savages,  who  made  no 
reply.  His  suspicions  were  further  aroused  when  he  discov 
ered  them  armed  with  guns.  The  savages  hoisted  a  sail  on  the 
pinnace;  but,  the  wind  and  tide  being  off-shore,  the  vessel 
took  a  northward  course  toward  the  Narragansett  shore. 
Gallop  delayed  no  longer.  He  cut  across  the  bow  of  the  pin 
nace  and  began  a  discharge  of  duck-shot,  which  drove  the 
savages  under  the  hatches.  Standing  off  somewhat,  he  put 
his  rudder  hard  up  and  headed  direct  for  the  pinnace  to  ram 
her  quarter,  so  she  was  almost  overturned.  Six  of  the  savages, 
terrified  at  this  strange  mode  of  attack,  went  over  the  rail  into 
the  sea.  Gallop  rammed  the  pinnace  again;  but,  not  being 
able  to  dislodge  the  remaining  savages,  he  began  to  pour  the 
shot  into  her  shell-like  woodwork,  so  the  other  savages  in 
hiding  plunged  into  the  sea,  where  they  were  drowned.  Im- 

[208] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

savages,  who  was  subjected  to  a  rigid  examination, 
confessed  that  "all  the  sachems  of  the  Narra- 
gansetts  except  Canonicus  and  Miantonomo"  were 
in  conspiracy  to  accomplish  Oldham's  death,  be 
cause  he  traded  with  the  Pequods.  As  these  two 
sachems  were  making  every  effort  to  ferret  out  and 
capture  the  assassins,  Miantonomoh  having  gone  to 
Block  Island  with  two  hundred  of  his  warriors, 
further  action  on  the  part  of  the  English  was  de 
ferred,  except  to  write  to  Mr.  Williams  for  the  re 
turn  of  the  two  lads  who  sailed  with  Oldham;  and 
to  Canonicus,  asking  him  for  his  assistance  in  the 
arrest  of  the  murderers.  The  English  sent  a  depu 
tation  to  Canonicus  shortly  after,  to  whom  he  de 
nied  all  connection  with  the  crime  and  offered  his 


mediately,  Gallop  and  his  crew  of  three  men  and  two  boys 
boarded  the  pinnace.  The  savages  were  captured  and  bound 
as  they  came  on  deck.  Gallop,  afraid  that  they  might  release 
themselves,  threw  one  overboard.  There  were  two  other 
savages  in  the  hold,  but,  being  armed,  and  Gallop  unable  to 
reach  them,  he  made  search  for  Oldham,  whom  he  found 
under  an  old  sail  with  his  head  split  with  an  axe  and  his  legs 
mutilated,  as  if  the  savages  had  tried  to  cut  them  off.  Rigor 
mortis  had  not  set  in,  so  recently  had  the  murder  been  com 
mitted.  The  body  was  solemnly  committed  to  the  sea. 
Gallop  carried  to  his  own  vessel  the  sails  and  such  of  Old- 
ham's  cargo  as  was  left.  This  done,  he  took  the  pinnace  in 
tow;  but  a  shifty  wind  and  a  nasty  sea  compelled  him  to  set 
her  adrift  with  the  savages  still  aboard.  Left  to  her  fate,  the 
pinnace  drifted  upon  the  Narragansett  shore. 
Winthrop,  vol.  i.,  pp.  189,  190. 

[209] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

services  upon  "safe  and  wary  conditions"  to  ac 
complish  their  arrest.  The  boys  were  reclaimed 
and  sent  to  Boston. 

This  murder  of  John  Oldham,  in  its  results,  was 
decisive.  The  incident  had  startled  the  English  into 
activity;  they  had  discovered  that  the  Pequods  were 
uncertain,  treacherous,  and  not  to  be  relied  upon, 
and  that  it  was  unsafe  for  the  English  to  settle  in  or 
adjacent  to  their  territory.  The  correspondence  be 
tween  Governor  Bradford  and  Winthrop  is  quoted 
from  the  Pilgrim  governor's  Journal,  commonly 
known  as  Bradford's  History  of  Plimoth  Planta 
tion: 

"In  ye  year  1634,  the  Pequents  (a  stoute  and 
warlike  people),  who  had  made  warrs  with  sundry 
of  their  neigbours,  and  puft  up  with  many  victories, 
grue  now  at  varience  with  ye  Narigansets,  a  great 
people  bordering  upon  them.  These  Narigansets 
held  correspondance  and  termes  of  freindship  with 
ye  English  of  ye  Massachusetts.  Now  ye  Pequents, 
being  conscious  of  ye  guilte  of  Captain-Stones 
death,  whom  they  knew  to  be  an-English  man,  as 
also  those  yl  were  with  him,  and  being  fallen  out 
with  ye  Dutch,  least  they  should  have  over  many 
enemies  at  once,  sought  to  make  freindship  with  ye 
English  of  ye  Massachusetts;  and  for  y4  end  sent 
both  messengers  &  gifts  unto  them,  as  appears  by 
some  letters  sent  from  ye  Govr  hither. 

"'Dear  &  worthy  Sr:  &c.  To  let  you  know  som- 
what  of  our  affairs,  you  may  understand  that  ye 

[210] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

Pequents  have  sent  some  of  theirs  to  us,  to  desire 
our  freindship,  and  offered  much  wampam  & 
beaver,  &c.  The  first  messengers  were  dismissed 
without  answer;  with  ye  next  we  had  diverce  dayes 
conferance,  and  taking  ye  advice  of  some  of  our 
ministers,  and  seeking  the  Lord  in  it,  we  concluded 
a  peace  &  freindship  with  them,  upon  these  con 
ditions:  that  they  should  deliver  up  to  us  those 
men  who  were  guilty  of  Stones  death,  &c.  And  if 
we  desired  to  plant  in  Conightecute,  they  should 
give  up  their  right  to  us,  and  so  we  would  send  to 
trade  with  them  as  our  freinds  (which  was  ye  cheefe 
thing  we  aimed  at,  being  now  in  warr  with  ye 
Dutch  and  ye  rest  of  their  neigbours).  To  this 
they  readily  agreed;  and  that  we  should  meadiate 
a  peace  betweene  them  and  the  Narigansets;  for 
which  end  they  were  contente  we  should  give  the 
Narigansets  parte  of  y*  presente,  they  would  be 
stow  on  us  (for  they  stood  so  much  on  their  honour, 
as  they  would  not  be  seen  to  give  any  thing  of  them 
selves).  As  for  Captein  Stone,  they  tould  us  ther 
were  but  2.  left  of  those  who  had  any  hand  in  his 
death;  and  that  they  killed  him  in  a  just  quarell, 
for  (say  they)  he  surprised  2.  of  our  men,  and 
bound  them,  to  make  them  by  force  to  shew  him  ye 
way  up  ye  river;  and  he  with  2.  other  coming  on 
shore,  9.  Indeans  watched  him,  and  when  they 
were  a  sleepe  in  ye  night,  they  killed  them,  to  deliver 
their  owne  men;  and  some  of  them  going  after 
wards  to  ye  pinass,  it  was  suddainly  blowne  up. 

[211] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

We  are  now  preparing  to  send  a  pinass  unto  them, 
&c.' 

"In  another  of  his,  dated  ye  12.  of  ye  first  month, 
he  hath  this. 

"'Our  pinass  is  latly  returned  from  ye  Pequents; 
they  put  of  but  litle  comoditie,  and  found  them  a 
very  false  people,  so  as  they  mean  to  have  no  more 
to  doe  with  them.  I  have  diverce  other  things  to 
write  unto  you,  &c. 

Yours  ever  assured, 

Jo:  Winthrop. 
Boston,  12.  of  ye  1.  month,  1634.' 

"After  these  things,  and,  as  I  take,  this  year, 
John  Oldom,  (of  whom  much  is  spoken  before,) 
being  now  an  inhabitant  of  ye  Massachusetts,  went 
wth  a  small  vessell,  &  slenderly  mand,  a  trading  into 
these  south  parts,  and  upon  a  quarell  betweene  him 
&  ye  Indeans  was  cutt  of  by  them  (as  hath  been 
before  noted)  at  an  iland  called  by  ye  Indeans 
Munisses,  but  since  by  ye  English  Block  Iland. 
This,  with  ye  former  about  the  death  of  Stone,  and 
the  baffoyling  of  ye  Pequents  with  ye  English  of  ye 
Massachusetts,  moved  them  to  set  out  some  to  take 
revenge,  and  require  satisfaction  for  these  wrongs; 
but  it  was  done  so  superfitially,  and  without  their 
acquainting  of  those  of  Conightecute  &  other  neig- 
bours  with  ye  same,  as  they  did  litle  good.  But 
their  neigbours  had  more  hurt  done,  for  some  of  ye 
murderers  of  Oldome  fled  to  ye  Pequents,  and 
though  the  English  went  to  ye  Pequents,  and  had 

[212] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

some  parley  with  them,  yet  they  did  but  delude 
them,  &  ye  English  returned  without  doing  any  thing 
to  purpose,  being  frustrate  of  their  oppertuni tie  by  ye 
others  deceite.  After  ye  English  were  returned,  the 
Pequents  tooke  their  time  and  oppertunitie  to  cut 
of  some  of  ye  English  as  they  passed  in  boats,  and 
went  on  fouling,  and  assaulted  them  the  next  spring 
at  their  habytations,  as  will  appear  in  its  place.  I 
doe  but  touch  these  things,  because  I  make  no 
question  they  will  be  more  fully  &  distinctly 
handled  by  them  selves,  who  had  more  exacte 
knowledg  of  them,  and  whom  they  did  more 
properly  concerne. 

"This  year  Mr.  Smith  layed  downe  his  place  of 
ministrie,  partly  by  his  owne  willingnes,  as  think 
ing  it  too  heavie  a  burthen,  and  partly  at  the  desire, 
and  by  ye  perswasion,  of  others;  and  the  church 
sought  out  for  some  other,  having  often  been  dis 
appointed  in  their  hops  and  desires  heretofore. 
And  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  send  them  an  able  and 
a  godly  man,  and  of  a  meeke  and  humble  spirite, 
sound  in  ye  truth,  and  every  way  unreproveable  in 
his  life  &  conversation;  whom,  after  some  time  of 
triall,  they  chose  for  their  teacher,  the  fruits  of 
whose  labours  they  in  joyed  many  years  with  much 
comforte,  in  peace,  &  good  agreemente. 
"Anno  Dom:  1637. 

"In  ye  fore  parte  of  this  year,  the  Pequents  fell 
openly  upon  ye  English  at  Conightecute,  in  ye 
lower  parts  of  ye  river,  and  slew  sundry  of  them> 

[213] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

(as  they  were  at  work  in  ye  feilds,)  both  men  & 
women,  to  ye  great  terrour  of  ye  rest;  and  wente 
away  in  great  prid  &  triumph,  with  many  high 
threats.  They  allso  assalted  a  fort  at  ye  rivers 
mouth,  though  strong  and  well  defended;  and 
though  they  did  not  there  prevaile,  yet  it  struk 
them  with  much  fear  &  astonishmente  to  see  their 
bould  attempts  in  the  face  of  danger;  which  made 
them  in  all  places  to  stand  upon  their  gard,  and  to 
prepare  for  resistance,  and  ernestly  to  solissite  their 
freinds  and  confederats  in  ye  Bay  of  Massachusetts 
to  send  them  speedy  aide,  for  they  looked  for  more 
forcible  assaults.  Mr.  Vane,  being  then  Govr, 
write  them  from  their  Generall  Courte  to  them 
hear,  to  joyne  with  them  in  this  warr;  to  which  they 
were  cordially  willing,  but  tooke  opportunitie  to 
write  to  them  aboute  some  former  things,  as  well  as 
presente,  considerable  hereaboute.  The  which  will 
best  appear  in  ye  Govr  answer  which  he  returned  to 
ye  same,  which  I  shall  here  inserte. 

"'Sr:  The  Lord  having  so  disposed,  as  that  your 
letters  to  our  late  Govr  is  fallen  to  my  lott  to  make 
answer  unto,  I  could  have  wished  I  might  have 
been  at  freedome  of  time  &  thoughts  also,  that  I 
might  have  done  it  more  to  your  &  my  owne  satis 
faction.  But  what  shall  be  wanting  now  you  may 
be  supplyed  hereafter.  For  ye  matters  which  from 
your  selfe  &  counsell  were  propounded  &  objected 
to  us,  we  thought  not  fitte  to  make  them  so  publicke 
as  ye  cognizance  of  our  Generall  Courte.  But  as 

[214] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

they  have  been  considered  by  those  of  our  counsell, 
this  answer  we  think  fitt  to  returne  unto  you.  (1) 
Wereas  you  signifie  your  willingnes  to  joyne  with 
us  in  this  warr  against  ye  Pequents,  though  you  can 
not  ingage  your  selves  without  ye  consente  of  your 
Generall  Courte,  we  acknowledg  your  good  affec 
tion  toward  us,  (which  we  never  had  cause  to 
doubt  of,)  and  are  willing  to  attend  your  full  reso 
lution,  when  it  may  most  seasonably  be  ripened. 
(21?.)  Wheras  you  make  this  warr  to  be  our 
peopls,  and  not  to  conceirne  your  selves,  otherwise 
then  by  consequence,  we  do  in  parte  consente  to 
you  therin;  yet  we  suppose,  that,  in  case  of  perill, 
you  will  not  stand  upon  such  terms,  as  we  hope  we 
should  not  doe  towards  you;  and  withall  we  con 
ceive  that  you  looke  at  ye  Pequents,  and  all  other 
Indeans,  as  a  comone  enimie,  who,  though  he  may 
take  occasion  of  ye  begining  of  his  rage,  for  some 
one  parte  of  ye  English,  yet  if  he  prevaile,  will 
surly  pursue  his  advantage,  to  ye  rooting  out  of  ye 
whole  nation.  Therfore  when  we  desired  your 
help,  we  did  it  not  without  respecte  to  your  owne 
saftie,  as  ours. 

c '  (31?.)  Wheras  you  desire  we  should  be  ingaged 
to  aide  you,  upon  all  like  occasions;  we  are  per- 
swaded  you  doe  not  doubte  of  it;  yet  as  we  now 
deale  with  you  as  a  free  people,  and  at  libertie,  so 
as  we  cannot  draw  you  into  this  war  with  us,  other 
wise  then  as  reason  may  guid  &  provock  you;  so 
we  desire  we  may  be  at  ye  like  freedome,  when  any 

[215] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

occasion  may  call  for  help  from  us.  And  wheras  it 
is  objected  to  us,  that  we  refused  to  aide  you  against 
ye  French;  we  conceive  ye  case  was  not  alicke;  yet 
we  cannot  wholy  excuse  our  failing  in  that  matter. 
^(4^.)  Weras  you  objecte  that  we  began  ye 
warr  without  your  privitie,  &  managed  it  contrary 
to  your  advise;  the  truth  is,  that  our  first  intentions 
being  only  against  Block  Hand,  and  ye  interprice 
seeming  of  small  difficultie,  we  did  not  so  much  as 
consider  of  taking  advice,  or  looking  out  for  aide 
abroad.  And  when  we  had  resolved  upon  ye 
Pequents,  we  sent  presently,  or  not  long  after,  to 
you  aboute  it;  but  ye  answer  received,  it  was  not 
seasonable  for  us  to  chaing  our  counsells,  excepte 
we  had  seen  and  waighed  your  grounds,  which 
might  have  out  wayed  our  owne. 

"'(5ly.)  For  our  peoples  trading  at  Kenebeck, 
we  assure  you  (to  our  knowledg)  it  hath  not  been 
by  any  allowance  from  us;  and  what  we  have  pro 
vided  in  this  and  like  cases,  at  our  laste  Courte, 
Mr.  E.  W.  can  certifie  you. 

"'And  (61?.)  wheras  you  objecte  to  us  yl  we 
should  hold  trade  &  correspondancie  with  ye 
French,  your  enemise;  we  answer,  you  are  misin 
formed,  for,  besids  some  letters  which  hath  passed 
betweene  our  late  Govr  and  them,  to  which  we 
were  privie,  we  have  neither  sente  nor  incouraged 
our  to  trade  with  them;  only  one  vessell  or  tow,  for 
ye  better  conveace  of  our  letters,  had  licens  from 
our  Govr  to  sayle  thither. 

[216] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

'"Diverce  other  things  have  been  privatly  ob 
jected  to  us,  by  our  worthy  freind,  wherunto  he 
received  some  answer;  but  most  of  them  concerning 
ye  apprehention  of  peticuler  discurtesis,  or  injueries 
from  some  perticuler  persons  amongst  us.  It  con 
cerns  us  not  to  give  any  other  answer  to  them  then 
this;  that,  if  ye  offenders  shall  be  brought  forth  in 
a  right  way,  we  shall  be  ready  to  doe  justice  as  ye 
case  shall  require.  In  the  meane  time,  we  desire 
you  to  rest  assured,  that  such  things  are  without 
our  privity,  and  not  a  litle  greeveous  to  us. 

"Now  for  ye  joyning  with  us  in  this  warr,  which 
indeed  concerns  us  no  other  wise  then  it  may  your 
selves,  viz.:  the  releeving  of  our  freinds  &  Christian 
breethren,  who  are  now  first  in  ye  danger;  though 
you  may  thinke  us  able  to  make  it  good  without 
you,  (as,  if  ye  Lord  please  to  be  with  us,  we  may,) 
yet  3.  things  we  offer  to  your  consideration,  which 
(we  conceive)  may  have  some  waight  with  you. 
(First)  y*  if  we  should  sinck  under  this  burden, 
your  opportunitie  of  seasonable  help  would  be  lost 
in  3  respects.  1.  You  cannot  recover  us,  or  secure 
your  selves  ther,  with  3  times  ye  charge  &  hazard 
which  now  ye  may.  21?.  The  sorrowes  which  we 
should  lye  under  (if  through  your  neglect)  would 
much  abate  of  ye  acceptablenes  of  your  help  after 
wards.  31?.  Those  of  yours,  who  are  now  full  of 
courage  and  forwardnes,  would  be  much  damped, 
and  so  less  able  to  undergoe  so  great  a  burden. 
The  (2.)  thing  is  this,  that  it  concerns  us  much  to 

[217] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

hasten  this  warr  to  an  end  before  ye  end  of  this 
somer,  otherwise  ye  newes  of  it  will  discourage  both 
your  &  our  freinds  from  coming  to  us  next  year; 
with  what  further  hazard  &  losse  it  may  expose  us 
unto,  your  selves  may  judge. 

"'The  (3.)  thing  is  this,  that  if  ye  Lord  shall 
please  to  blesse  our  endeavours,  so  as  we  end  ye 
warr,  or  put  it  in  a  hopefull  way  without  you,  it 
may  breed  such  ill  thoughts  in  our  people  towards 
yours,  as  will  be  hard  to  entertaine  such  opinione 
of  your  good  will  towards  us,  as  were  fitt  to  be 
nurished  among  such  neigbours  &  brethren  as  we 
are.  And  what  ill  consequences  may  follow,  on 
both  sids,  wise  men  may  fear,  &  would  rather  pre- 
vente  then  hope  to  redress.  So  with  my  harty 
salutations  to  your  selfe,  and  all  your  counsell,  and 
other  our  good  freinds  with  you,  I  rest 

Yours  most  assured  in  ye  Lord, 

Jo:  Winthrop. 
Boston,  ye  20.  of  ye  3.  month,  1637.' 

"In  ye  mean  time,  the  Pequents,  espetially  in 
ye  winter  before,  sought  to  make  peace  with  ye 
Narigansets,  and  used  very  pernicious  arguments  to 
move  them  therunto:  as  that  ye  English  were  strane- 
gers  and  begane  to  everspred  their  countrie,  and 
would  deprive  them  therof  in  time,  if  they  were 
suffered  to  grow  &  increse;  and  if  ye  Narigansets 
did  assist  ye  English  to  subdue  them,  they  did  but 
make  way  for  their  owne  overthrow,  for  if  they 
were  rooted  out,  the  English  would  soone  take 

[218] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

occasion  to  subjugate  them;  and  if  they  would 
harken  to  them,  they  should  not  neede  to  fear  ye 
strength  of  ye  English;  for  they  would  not  come  to 
open  battle  with  them,  but  fire  their  houses,  kill 
their  katle,  and  lye  in  ambush  for  them  as  they 
went  abroad  upon  their  occasions ;  and  all  this  they 
might  easily  doe  without  any  or  litle  danger  to 
them  selves.  The  which  course  being  held,  they 
well  saw  the  English  could  not  long  subsiste,  but 
they  would  either  be  starved  with  hunger,  or  be 
forced  to  forsake  the  countrie;  with  many  ye  like 
things;  insomuch  that  ye  Narigansets  were  once 
wavering,  and  were  halfe  minded  to  have  made 
peace  with  them,  and  joyned  against  ye  English. 
But  againe  when  they  considered,  how  much  wrong 
they  had  received  from  the  Pequents,  and  what  an 
oppertunitie  they  now  had  by  ye  help  of  ye  English 
to  right  them  selves,  revenge  was  so  sweete  unto 
them,  as  it  prevailed  above  all  ye  rest;  so  they  re 
solved  to  joyne  with  ye  English  against  them,  &  did. 
The  Courte  here  agreed  forwith  to  send  50.  men  at 
their  owne  charg;  and  with  as  much  speed  as  pos- 
ible  they  could,  gott  them  armed,  and  had  made 
them  ready  under  sufficiente  leaders,  and  provided 
a  barke  to  carrie  them  provisions  &  tend  upon 
them  for  all  occasions;  but  when  they  were  ready 
to  march  (with  a  supply  from  ye  Bay)  they  had 
word  to  stay,  for  ye  enimy  was  as  good  as  van 
quished,  and  their  would  be  no  neede. 

"I  shall  not  take  upon  me  exactly  to  describe 
[219] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

their  proceedings  in  these  things,  because  I  expecte 
it  all  to  be  fully  done  by  them  selves,  who  best  know 
the  carrage  &  circumstances  of  things;  I  shall 
therfore  but  touch  them  in  generall.  From  Con- 
ninghtecute  (who  were  most  sencible  of  ye  hurt 
sustained,  &  ye  present  danger),  they  sett  out  a 
partie  of  men,  and  an  other  partie  mett  them  from 
ye  Bay,  at  ye  Narigansets,  who  were  to  joyne  with 
them.  Ye  Narigansets  were  ernest  to  be  gone  be 
fore  ye  English  were  well  rested  and  refreshte, 
espetially  some  of  them  which  came  last.  It  should 
seeme  their  desire  was  to  come  upon  ye  enemie 
sudenly,  &  undiscovered.  Ther  was  a  barke  of  this 
place,  newly  put  in  ther,  which  was  come  from 
Conightecutte,  who  did  incourage  them  to  lay  hold 
of  ye  Indeans  forwardnes,  and  to  shew  as  great  for- 
wardnes  as  they,  for  it  would  incorage  them,  and 
the  expedition  might  prove  to  their  great  advan 
tage.  And  so  they  went  on,  and  so  ordered  their 
march,  as  the  Indeans  brought  them  to  a  forte  of  ye 
enimies  (in  which  most  of  their  cheefe  men  were)  be 
fore  day.  They  approched  ye  same  with  great  silence, 
and  surrounded  in  both  with  English  &  Indeans,  that 
they  might  not  breake  out;  and  so  assaulted  them 
with  great  courage,  shooting  amongst  them,  and  en 
tered  ye  forte  with  all  speed;  and  those  yl  first  en 
tered  found  sharp  resistance  from  the  enimie,  who 
both  shott  at  &  grapled  with  them;  others  rane  into 
their  howses,  &  brought  out  fire,  and  sett  them  on 
fire,  which  soone  took  in  their  matts,  &,  standing 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

close  togeather,  with  ye  wind,  all  was  quickly  on  a 
flame,  and  therby  more  were  burnte  to  death  then 
was  otherwise  slaine;  it  burnte  their  bow-strings,  and 
made  then  unservisable.  Those  yfc  escaped  ye  fire 
were  slaine  with  ye  sword;  some  hewed  to  peeces, 
others  rune  throw  with  their  rapiers,  so  as  they 
were  quickly  dispatchte,  and  very  few  escaped.  It 
was  conceived  they  thus  destroyed  about  400.  at 
this  time.  It  was  a  fearfull  sight  to  see  them  thus 
frying  in  ye  fyer,  and  ye  streams  of  blood  quenching 
ye  same,  and  horrible  was  ye  stinck  &  sente  ther  of; 
but  ye  victory  seemed  a  sweete  sacrifice,  and  they 
gave  the  prays  therof  to  God,  who  had  wrought  so 
wonderfuly  for  them,  thus  to  inclose  their  enimies 
in  their  hands,  and  give  them  so  speedy  a  victory 
over  so  proud  &  insulting  an  enimie.  The  Nari- 
gansett  Indeans,  all  this  while,  stood  around  aboute, 
but  aloofe  from  all  danger,  and  left  ye  whole  execu 
tion  to  ye  English,  exept  it  were  ye  stopping  of  any 
yl  broke  away,  insulting  over  their  enimies  in  this 
their  ruine  &  miserie,  when  they  saw  them  dancing 
in  ye  flames,  calling  them  by  a  word  in  their  owne 
language,  signifing,  O,  brave  Pequents!  which  they 
used  familierly  among  them  selves  in  their  owne 
prayes,  in  songs  of  triumph  after  their  victories. 
After  this  servis  was  thus  happily  accomplished, 
they  marcht  to  the  water  side,  wher  they  mett  with 
some  of  their  vessells,  by  which  they  had  refreishing 
with  victualls  &  other  necessaries.  But  in  their 
march  ye  rest  of  ye  Pequents  drew  into  a  body,  and 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

acoasted  them  thinking  to  have  some  advantage 
against  them  by  reason  of  a  neck  of  land;  but  when 
they  saw  the  English  prepare  for  them,  they  kept  a 
loofe,  so  as  they  neither  did  hurt,  nor  could  receive 
any.  After  their  refreishing  &  repair  to  geather  for 
further  counsell  &  directions,  they  resolved  to  pur 
sue  their  victory,  and  follow  ye  warr  against  ye 
rest,  but  ye  Narigansett  Indeans  most  of  them  for- 
sooke  them,  and  such  of  them  as  they  had  with 
them  for  guids,  or  otherwise,  they  found  them  very 
could  and  backward  in  ye  bussines,  ether  out  of 
envie,  or  y*  they  saw  ye  English  would  make  more 
profite  of  ye  victorie  then  they  were  willing  they 
should,  or  els  deprive  them  of  such  advantage  as 
them  selves  desired  by  having  them  become  tribu 
taries  unto  them,  or  ye  like.  For  ye  rest  of  this 
bussines,  I  shall  only  relate  ye  same  as  it  is  in  a 
letter  which  came  from  Mr.  Winthrop  to  ye  Govr 
hear,  as  followeth. 

"'Worthy  Sr:  I  received  your  loving  letter,  and 
am  much  provocked  to  express  my  affections 
towards  you,  but  straitnes  of  time  forbids  me;  for 
my  desire  is  to  acquainte  you  with  the  Lords  great 
mercies  towards  us,  in  our  prevailing  against  his  & 
our  enimies;  that  you  may  re  Joyce  and  praise  his 
name  with  us.  About  80.  of  our  men,  haveing 
costed  along  towards  ye  Dutch  plantation,  (some 
times  by  water,  but  most  by  land)  mett  hear  &  ther 
with  some  Pequents,  whom  they  slew  or  tooke 
prisoners.  2.  sachems  they  tooke,  &  beheaded;  and 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

not  hearing  of  Sassacous,  (the  cheefe  sachem,) 
they  gave  a  prisoner  his  life,  to  go  and  find  him  out. 
He  wente  and  brought  them  word  where  he  was, 
but  Sassacous,  suspecting  him  to  be  a  spie,  after  he 
was  gone,  fled  away  with  some  20.  more  to  ye 
Mo  wakes,  so  our  men  missed  of  him.  Yet,  deviding 
them  selves,  and  ranging  up  &  downe,  as  ye  provi 
dence  of  God  guided  them  (for  ye  Indeans  were  all 
gone,  save  3.  or  4.  and  they  knew  not  whither  to 
guid  them,  or  els  would  not),  upon  ye  13.  of  this 
month,  they  light  upon  a  great  company  of  them, 
viz.  80.  strong  men,  &  200.  women  &  children,  in  a 
small  Indean  towne,  fast  by  a  hideous  swamp, 
which  they  all  slipped  into  before  our  men  could 
gett  to  them.  Our  captains  were  not  then  come 
togeither,  but  ther  was  Mr.  Ludlow  and  Captaine 
Masson,  with  some  10.  of  their  men,  &  Captaine 
Patrick  with  some  20.  or  more  of  his,  who,  shooting 
at  ye  Indeans,  Captaine  Trask  with  50.  more  came 
soone  in  at  ye  noyse.  Then  they  gave  order  to 
surround  ye  swamp,  it  being  aboute  a  mile  aboute; 
but  Levetenante  Davenporte  &  some  12.  more,  not 
hearing  that  comand,  fell  into  ye  swamp  among  ye 
Indeans.  The  swamp  was  so  thicke  with  shrub- 
woode,  &  so  boggie  with  all,  that  some  of  them 
stuck  fast,  and  received  many  shott.  Levetenant 
Davenporte  was  dangerously  wounded  aboute  his 
armehole,  and  another  shott  in  ye  head,  so  as, 
fainting,  they  were  in  great  danger  to  have  been 
taken  by  ye  Indeans.  But  Sargante  Rigges,  &  Jef- 

[223] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

fery,  and  2.  or  3.  more,  rescued  them,  and  slew 
diverse  Indeans  with  their  swords.  After  they  were 
drawne  out,  the  Indeans  desired  parley,  &  were 
offered  (by  Thomas  Stanton,  our  interpretour)  that, 
if  they  would  come  out,  and  yeeld  them  selves,  they 
should  have  their  lives,  all  that  had  not  their  hands 
in  ye  English  blood.  Wherupon  ye  sachem  of  ye 
place  came  forth,  and  an  old  man  or  2.  &  their 
wives  and  children,  and  after  that  some  other 
women  &  children,  and  so  they  spake  2.  howers,  till 
it  was  night.  Then  Thomas  Stanton  was  sente  into 
them  againe,  to  call  them  forth ;  but  they  said  they 
would  selle  their  lives  their,  and  so  shott  at  him  so 
thicke  as,  if  he  had  not  cried  out,  and  been  presently 
rescued,  they  had  slaine  him.  Then  our  men  cutt 
of  a  place  of  ye  swamp  with  their  swords,  and  cooped 
the  Indeans  into  so  narrow  a  compass,  as  they 
could  easier  kill  them  throw  ye  thickets.  So  they 
continued  all  ye  night,  standing  about  12.  foote 
one  from  an  other,  and  ye  Indeans,  coming  close  up 
to  our  men,  shot  their  arrows  so  thicke,  as  they 
pierced  their  hatte  brims,  &  their  sleeves,  &  stock- 
ins,  &  other  parts  of  their  cloaths,  yet  so  miracu 
lously  did  the  Lord  preserve  them  as  not  one  of 
them  was  wounded,  save  those  3.  who  rashly  wente 
into  ye  swampe.  When  it  was  nere  day,  it  grue  very 
darke,  so  as  those  of  them  which  were  left  dropt 
away  betweene  our  men  though  they  stood  but  12. 
or  14.  foote  assunder;  but  were  presently  discovered, 
&  some  killed  in  ye  pursute.  Upon  searching  of  ye 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

swampe,  ye  next  morning,  they  found  9.  slaine,  & 
some  they  pulled  up,  whom  ye  Indeans  had  buried 
in  ye  mire,  so  as  they  doe  think  that,  of  all  this 
company,  not  20.  did  escape,  for  they  after  found 
some  who  dyed  in  their  flight  of  their  wounds  re 
ceived.  The  prisoners  were  devided,  some  of  those 
of  ye  river,  and  the  rest  to  us.  Of  these  we  send  ye 
male  children  to  Bermuda,  by  Mr.  William  Pierce, 
&  ye  women  and  maid  children  are  disposed  aboute 
in  ye  townes.  Ther  have  been  now  slaine  &  taken, 
in  all,  aboute  700.  The  rest  are  dispersed,  and  the 
Indeans  in  all  quarters  so  terrified  as  all  their 
freinds  are  afraid  to  receive  them.  2.  of  ye  sachems 
of  Long  Hand  came  to  Mr.  Stoughton  and  tendered 
them  selves  to  be  tributaries  under  our  protection. 
And  2.  of  ye  Nepenett  sachems  have  been  with  me 
to  seeke  our  freindship.  Among  ye  prisoners  we 
have  ye  wife  and  Children  of  Mononotto,  a  woman 
of  a  very  modest  countenance  and  behaviour.  It 
was  by  her  mediation  that  the  2.  English  maids 
were  spared  from  death,  and  were  kindly  used  by 
her;  so  that  I  have  taken  charge  of  her.  One  of  her 
first  requests  was,  that  the  English  would  not 
abuse  her  body,  and  that  her  children  might  not  be 
taken  from  her.  Those  which  were  wounded  were 
fetched  of  soone  by  John  Gallop,  who  came  with 
his  shallop  in  a  happie  houre,  to  bring  them 
victuals,  and  to  carrie  their  wounded  men  to  ye 
pinass,  wher  our  cheefe  surgeon  was,  with  Mr. 
Willson,  being  aboute  8.  leagues  off.  Our  people  are 

[225] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

all  in  health,  (ye  Lord  be  praised,)  and  allthough 
they  had  marched  in  their  armes  all  ye  day,  and  had 
been  in  fight  all  ye  night,  yet  the  professed  they 
found  them  selves  so  fresh  as  they  could  willingly 
have  gone  to  such  another  bussiness. 

"'This  is  ye  substance  of  that  which  I  received, 
though  I  am  forced  to  omite  many  considerable 
circomstances.  So,  being  in  much  straitnes  of  time, 
(the  ships  being  to  departe  within  this  4.  days,  and 
in  them  the  Lord  Lee  and  Mr.  Vane,)  I  hear 
breake  of,  and  with  harty  saluts  to,  &c.,  I  rest 
Yours  assured, 

Jo:  Winthrop. 

The  28.  of  ye  5.  month,  1637. 

The  capatins  reporte  we  have  slaine  13.  sachems; 
but  Sassacous  &  Monotto  are  yet  living.' 

"That  I  may  make  an  end  of  this  matter;  this 
Sassacouse  (ye  Pequents  cheefe  sachem)  being  fled 
to  ye  Mowhakes,  they  cutt  of  his  head,  with  some 
other  of  ye  cheefe  of  them,  whether  to  satisfie  ye 
English,  or  rather  ye  Narigansets,  (who,  as  I  have 
since  heard,  hired  them  to  doe  it,)  or  for  their  owne 
advantage,  I  well  know  not;  but  thus  this  warr 
tooke  end.  The  rest  of  ye  Pequents  were  wholy 
driven  from  their  place,  and  some  of  them  sub 
mitted  them  selves  to  ye  Narigansets,  &  lived  under 
them;  others  of  them  betooke  them  selves  to  ye 
Monhiggs,  under  Uncass,  their  sachem,  with  the 
approbation  of  ye  English  of  Conightecutt,  under 
whose  protection  Uncass  lived,  and  he  and  his  men 


THE  FEQUOD  WAR 

had  been  faithful  to  them  in  this  warr,  &  done  them 
very  good  service.  But  this  did  so  vexe  the  Nari- 
gansets,  that  they  had  not  ye  whole  sweay  over 
them,  as  they  have  never  ceased  plotting  and  con 
triving  how  to  bring  them  under,  and  because  of  ye 
English  who  have  protected  them,  they  have  sought 
to  raise  a  generall  conspiracie  against  ye  English,  as 
will  appear  in  an  other  place."1 

This  correspondence  is  somewhat  anticipatory. 
The  Plymouth  people  and  those  of  the  Bay  Colony 
were  able  to  agree  upon  immediate  action.  It  was 
as  necessary  that  the  savages  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  Massachusetts  colonies  should  be  checked  in 
any  aggressive  design  they  might  be  willing  to  en 
tertain  in  support  of  a  general  uprising  of  the 
savages  against  the  English  as  that  the  Pequods 
about  the  Connecticut  should  be  suppressed  and 
punished.  An  expedition  to  Block  Island  was 
planned,  and  the  volunteers  to  undertake  the  same 
coming  in  in  sufficient  number,  they  were  formed 
into  a  company  and  fitted  out  for  the  campaign. 
Less  than  one  hundred  of  the  most  resolute  were 
placed  under  the  direction  of  John  Endicott,  Esq., 
as  general,  by  whom  they  were  divided  up  into  four 
companies  under  Captains  Underbill  and  Turner. 
This  little  troop  embarked  in  three  small  vessels, 
taking  two  Indians  along  with  them  as  guides  and 

Bradford's  History  of  Plimoth  Plantation,  pp.  415-431. 
Winthrop,  Life  and  Letters,  p.  194. 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

interpreters.  They  were  instructed  to  "put  to 
death  the  men  of  Block  Island,  but  to  spare  the 
women  and  children;  and  from  thence  to  go  to  the 
Pequods  to  demand  the  murderers  of  Captain 
Stone  and  other  English,  and  one  thousand  fathoms 
of  wampum,  for  damages,  and  some  of  their  chil 
dren  for  hostages,  which  if  they  should  refuse,  they 
were  to  obtain  it  by  force."1  These  were  extraordi 
nary  powers,  but  the  little  fleet  set  sail,  and  reached 
Block  Island  about  dusk  a  few  days  after,  when  a 
slight  skirmish  was  had  with  the  natives,  and  a  few 
arrows  cut  the  air;  but  under  a  discharge  of  their 
muskets  the  English  landed  upon  the  island,  where 
they  spent  the  next  two  days  destroying  wigwams, 
canoes,  corn,  and  other  property.  The  casualties 
in  this  unimportant  conflict  were  all  on  one  side. 
Some  fourteen  savages  were  killed,  and  a  number 
of  others  wounded.2  From  Block  Island  they  went 
to  Saybrook,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Connecticut. 

'Winthrop,  vol.  i.,  pp.  192,  193. 

2  It  was  almost  night  when  Endicott  made  Block  Island.  A 
single  savage  was  in  sight.  The  shore  was  apparently  de 
serted.  John  Underbill,  "  a  brave  soldier,  though  a  bad  man," 
with  a  dozen  soldiers,  pushed  in  sbore  in  a  shallop,  to  dis 
cover  some  sixty  savages  arrayed  against  him.  They  were 
sheltered  behind  a  low  dune,  and  as  Underbill  came  within 
bow-shot  they  let  fly  a  shower  of  arrows;  but  no  one  was 
harmed.  The  surf  was  so  heavy  they  could  not  get  a  steady 
aim  with  their  muskets,  so  they  sprang  into  the  water,  which 
was  hardly  hip-deep.  With  a  volley  of  bullets,  they  scrambled 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

They  were  not  made  particularly  welcome  here. 
Neither  the  English  in  Connecticut  nor  the  Plym 
outh  people  regarded  this  movement  of  Winthrop's 
as  wise.  Johnson1  declares  it  to  have  been  a 
bootless  voyage.  Deaf  to  remonstrances  of  the 
Connecticut  settlers,  General  Endicott  was  deter 
mined  to  carry  out  the  instructions  of  his  superiors 
at  Boston.  Gardener,2  commander  of  the  fort  at 

up  the  sands  of  the  shore.  Endicott  had  made  a  landing  at  the 
same  moment.  The  savages,  intimidated  by  the  fire-arms  and 
the  appearance  of  so  many  soldiers,  ran  away  and  hid  them 
selves  in  the  woods. 

It  was  now  night.  Posting  their  sentinels,  they  slept  un 
disturbed.  With  the  break  of  day  they  were  exploring  the 
island,  which  was  of  some  considerable  area  (ten  miles  in 
length  by  half  that  in  width).  The  woods  were  broken  and 
seamed  with  paths  or  trails  running  in  all  directions,  but  so 
narrow  the  English  were  obliged  to  follow  them  in  single  file. 
After  a  little,  they  discovered  two  villages,  altogether  con 
taining  some  sixty  wigwams,  some  of  which  were  quite  large 
and  commodious;  but  which  were  deserted. 

They  burned  the  wigwams,  destroyed  all  the  canoes,  and 
two  hundred  acres  of  corn.  They  were  two  days  on  the 
island.  The  savages  were  so  closely  hidden  they  found  but 
few  of  them.  Underbill  says  this  foray  resulted  in  the  killing 
of  some  fourteen  of  the  savages;  but  Hubbard  had  it  from  the 
Narragansetts  that  but  one  was  killed. 

Underbill,  Mass.  Hist.  Co//.,  vol.  xxxvi.,  p.  192. 

Underbill,  Pequot  War. 

Winthrop's  Journal,  vol.  i.,  pp.  192,  194. 

1  Wonder-working  Providence. 

2  Gardener,  who  was  in  command  at  Saybrook,  criticized 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

Saybrook,  fitted  him  out  with  boats  and  men,1  and 
with  five  vessels  they  entered  the  Pequod  River 
(now  the  Thames),  where  they  held  a  conference 
with  the  savages.2  The  explanations  of  the  savages 
not  being  satisfactory,  the  troops  landed  and  began 
their  work  of  devastation,  which  was  similar  to  that 
committed  at  Block  Island.3  Gardener  makes  note 
that  after  this  was  accomplished  the  Boston  party 
left  his  [Gardener's]  men  "to  shift  for  themselves," 

this  Block  Island  incursion  severely.  He  told  Endicott,  "You 
have  come  to  raise  a  nest  of  wasps  about  our  ears,  and  then 
you  will  flee  away."  He  says  in  his  Pequod  Warres,  "As  they 
[Endicott  and  his  men]  came  without  our  knowledge,  so  went 
they  away  against  our  will." 

Mass.  Hist.  Co//.,  vol.  xxxiii.,  p.  140. 

Gardener's  Pequod  Warres,  p.  12. 

It  was  Gardener  who  said,  "War  is  like  a  three-legged 
stool, —  want  one  foot,  and  down  comes  all." 

Gardener's  Pequod  Warres,  p.  10. 

*Ibid,  p.  16. 

2 This  conference  ended  in  a  fight.  Gardener  says:  "The 
Bay-men  killed  not  a  man,  save  that  one,  Kichomiquim 
[Cutshamequin],  an  Indian  Sachem  of  the  Bay,  killed  a 
Pequit;  and  thus  began  the  war  between  the  Indians  and  us 
in  these  parts." 

Ibid,  p.  18. 

Cutshamequin  came  along  with  Endicott  from  Massa 
chusetts. 

Gardener,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xxxiii.,  p.  144. 

3  For  particular  accounts  of  this  expedition,  vide,  Gardener 
and  Underbill  in  the  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.;  also  Winthrop,  vol.  i., 
pp.  194,  197. 

[230] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

and  he  remarks  that  it  was  "a  marvellous  provi 
dence  of  God,  that  not  a  hair  fell  from  the  head  of 
any  of  them,  nor  any  sick  or  feeble  person  among 
them."1 

The  Pequods  and  the  Narragansetts  had  always 
been  at  feud,  but  reports  began  to  reach  the 
Boston  Colony  that  the  Pequods  had  made  a  truce 
with  the  Narragansetts,  and  were  trying  to  induce 
them,  through  the  argument  of  self-preservation, 
to  join  in  a  movement  to  exterminate  the  English. 
The  Massachusetts  colonists  were  aroused  to  a 
keen  sense  of  their  danger,  and  realized  that  their 
only  hope  in  the  way  of  preserving  peace  was 
through  the  intercession  of  Roger  Williams,  whose 
influence  with  the  Narragansetts  was  possibly 
greater  than  that  of  any  other  Englishman.  They 
were  in  a  dilemma  here.  Roger  Williams,  on  ac 
count  of  his  religious  belief,  had  been  expelled 
from  the  Massachusetts  Colony.  His  sentence  was 
practically  one  of  banishment,  and  the  question 
arose  whether  or  not,  under  this  ignominious  pro 
cedure  on  the  part  of  those  who  should  have  been 
his  friends,  they  would  be  entitled  to  any  consider 
ation  at  his  hands.2  Williams  was  greater  than  his 

1Winthrop,  vol.  i.,  pp.  232,  235. 
Gardener,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  141. 
Underbill,  3  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  vi.,  p.  11. 
Massachusetts  Records,  vol.  i.,  p.  88. 

2 "Mr.  Wiliams  did  lay  his  axe  at  the  very  root  of  the 
Magistratical  power  in  matters  of  the  first  table,  which  he 

[231] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

persecutors;  for  he  at  once,  upon  understanding  the 
situation,  at  an  extreme  hazard,  hardly  informing 
his  wife  of  his  intention,  embarked  in  a  frail  canoe 
and  alone  made  his  way  through  "stormy  wind, 
with  great  seas,"  to  the  house  of  Canonicus;  but 
the  Pequods  had  anticipated  his  coming,  possibly, 
and  were  there  before  him.  For  a  succession  of 

drove  on  at  such  a  rate,  so  as  many  agitations  were  occasioned 
thereby  that  pulled  down  ruin  upon  himself,  friends,  and  his 
poor  family." 

Hubbard,  History  of  New  England,  p.  166. 

John  Cotton  remarks  of  Roger  Williams  that  he  "Looked 
upon  himself  as  had  he  received  a  clearer  illumination  and 
apprehension  of  the  State  of  Christ's  Kingdom,  and  of  the 
purity  of  Church  Communion,  than  all  Christendom  besides." 

Ibid,  p.  203. 

Cotton  goes  on  to  relate  that  one  of  the  causes  of  Williams's 
banishment  was  the  latter's  protesting  against  the  king's  be 
ing  credited,  in  the  patent  under  which  the  Puritans  occu 
pied  Massachusetts  Bay,  as  being  the  first  Christian  prince 
who  had  discovered  these  parts,  and  his  injustice  in  giving 
this  country  to  his  English  subjects,  which  belonged  to  the 
native  Indians.  He  urged  the  Puritans  to  humble  themselves 
"to  return  the  patent  back  again  to  the  King." 

Ibid,  p.  210. 

Evidently  Roger  Williams  was  a  misfit  for  the  Puritan 
conscience. 

It  was  in  October,  1635,  that  Roger  Williams  was  sentenced 
by  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  to  depart  out  of  their 
jurisdiction  within  six  weeks.  Such  was  the  spirit  of  intoler 
ance  in  the  Bay  Colony  at  that  time  that  in  the  January  fol 
lowing  Winthrop  was  convicted  by  the  Puritan  leaders  for 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

three  days  and  three  nights  Williams  was  compelled 
to  remain  in  their  company,  in  momentary  danger 
of  sharing  the  fate  of  Oldham.  He  was  able,  how 
ever,  through  his  kindliness  of  attitude,  and  more 
directly  through  the  friendship  of  Canonicus,  to 
frustrate  the  designs  of  the  Pequods.1  As  a  result 
of  his  commission,  Miantonomoh  and  two  sons  of 
Canonicus  went  to  Boston,  where  they  joined  the 

having  shown  "too  much  leniety  in  this  matter,"  and  Captain 
Underbill  was  despatched  to  apprehend  Williams  for  con 
tinuing  to  preach  the  doctrine  for  which  he  had  been  banished. 
Vane  was  governor  at  this  time. 

John  Winthrop,  Life  and  Letters,  p.  137. 

Roger  Williams  has  been  called  the  founder  of  Rhode 
Island.  He  escaped  Underbill  to  find  an  asylum  among  the 
Narragansetts.  He  was  noted  for  his  uprightness  and  kindli 
ness  of  manner;  and  by  the  exercise  of  these  qualities  he  ob 
tained  a  very  considerable  influence  over  the  Narragansett 
sachem. 

Winthrop,  vol.  i.,  pp.  236,  238. 

Vide  William's  Letters,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  i.,  p.  237. 

3  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  i.,  p.  159. 

Trumbull,  vol.  i.,  pp.  74,  76. 

1  Upon  his  expulsion  from  the  Bay  Colony  by  Winthrop's 
court  Williams  found  himself  shelterless.  He  went  first  to 
Massasoit,  and  then  to  Canonicus.  The  latter  received  him  at 
first  with  distrust,  so  fearful  was  he  of  the  "sorcery  of  the 
whites;"  but,  taken  by  Williams's  kindly  behavior,  he  after 
ward  received  him  into  full  companionship.  Williams  at 
tempted  a  settlement  at  Seekonk.  Upon  finding  it  to  be  in  the 
Plymouth  jurisdiction  he  crossed  the  water  to  Rhode  Island. 
He  was  the  first  white  man  here,  where  no  prior  title  could 

[233] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

magistrates  and  ministers  in  a  treaty  of  peaceful 
alliance.1 

The  expedition  to  Block  Island  could  have  but 
one  result.  That  was  to  exasperate  the  savages, 
whet  their  thirst  for  revenge,  and  to  stir  them  to 
greater  insolence  and  warlike  spirit,  so  that  no 

interfere  with  his  rights.  He  was  given  this  land  by  the 
Indian  sachem. 

Frost,  Book  of  the  Colonies,  p.  176. 

Not  long  before,  the  Narragansetts  had  made  some  pre 
tense  of  enmity  against  the  English.  Baylie  says:  "In  the 
spring  of  1630  John  Sagamore,  a  friendly  Indian,  betrayed  a 
plot  of  the  Narragansetts  to  the  English,  a  conspiracy  of  many 
of  the  tribes  of  whom  the  Narragansetts  were  the  leaders,  to 
destroy  the  English.  They  requested  the  governor  of  Plym 
outh  that  they  might  have  some  sport  there;  but  the  governor 
would  not  permit  it.  The  savages  retorted  if  they  might  not 
come  'with  leave,'  they  *  would  without.'  The  English,  ap 
prehending  their  purpose,  made  preparations  for  defence,  and 
the  Indians  decided  to  put  off  their  purpose,  friendly  or  other 
wise,  until  better  opportunity  should  offer." 

Baylie's  History  of  Plymouth,  p.  154. 

1  There  was  at  that  time  a  move  on  foot  for  the  confedera 
tion  of  the  Connecticut  tribes;  the  Pequots  had  become  the 
active  movers  in  this  matter,  and,  as  their  first  step  toward  the 
consummation  of  their  purpose  against  the  English,  they 
buried  the  hatchet  so  long  reddened  in  the  Narragansett  feud. 
These  overtures  to  the  latter  were  in  the  way  of  being  accepted 
when  Roger  Williams  made  his  advent  into  the  village  of 
Canonicus.  The  Narragansetts  would  be  a  powerful  ally, 
and  they  would  also  be  in  no  danger  from  them;  otherwise, 
Sassacus,  having  fully  considered  the  benefits  to  be  had  with 

[234] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

Englishmen  were  safe  in  their  company.1  They 
gathered  at  the  garrison  at  Saybrook,  and  chal- 

the  accession  of  the  Narragansetts  to  his  machinations  against 
the  English,  sent  two  sachems  to  Canonicus  to  gain  him  over 
to  their  purpose.  Canonicus  called  a  general  council  of  his 
warriors,  and  before  the  assembled  Narragansetts  the  Pequots 
urged  the  confederation  for  the  extermination  of  the  English. 
They  did  not  overlook  the  superior  training  and  armament  of 
the  English,  but  explained  that  it  would  not  be  necessary  to 
face  the  latter's  muskets  or  expose  themselves  in  the  open; 
but  they  could  waylay  them  by  ambuscade  as  they  tilled  their 
crops;  fire  their  cabins  by  night  when  they  slept;  kill  their 
cattle;  harass  them  by  day  and  night  in  the  most  unexpected 
places,  until,  in  their  fear,  and  beset  by  the  perils  of  starva 
tion,  they  would  quit  the  country  voluntarily.  The  Pequots 
argued,  and  with  a  show  of  reason,  once  the  Pequots  are  de 
stroyed  the  Narragansetts  will  fall  a  still  easier  prey  to  the 
English  rapacity;  and  they  dilated  upon  the  unprovoked  at 
tacks  of  the  English  in  reprisal  for  the  murder  of  Oldham,  of 
which  they  were  not  guilty,  in  attempting  to  extort  from  them 
large  quantities  of  wampum  and  demanding  their  children  as 
hostages,  whom  the  English  would  undoubtedly  condemn  to 
slavery.  The  Narragansetts  were  moved  by  this  plausible 
speech,  and  were  on  the  point  of  forming  an  alliance  with  the 
Pequots;  but  they  remembered  their  former  enmity,  and  they 
feared  the  Pequots  no  less  than  the  English.  The  appearance 
of  Williams  at  the  moment  when  the  decision  of  the  Narra 
gansetts  hung  in  the  balance  was  most  opportune,  for  his  in 
fluence  prevailed,  and  the  Pequot  sachems  had  failed  in  their 
embassy. 

DeForest,  Indians  of  Connecticut,  p.  101. 

Roger  Williams's  Letters,  R.  I.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  160. 

Gardener  was  in  command  of  the  fort  at  Saybrook.  It 
[235] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

lenged  it  to  come  out  and  fight.  The  chief  episode 
of  this  foray  by  the  Pequods,  it  appears,  was  the 
capture  of  Samuel  Butterfield,  who  was  out  with 
some  others  getting  hay.  Butterfield  was  tied  to  a 
stake  and  roasted  alive  by  the  Pequods.1  Another 
attack  followed  two  weeks  later.  Five  or  six  of  the 
Englishmen  were  wounded.  After  the  winter  came 
on,  Gardener  went  out,  one  March  day,  with  nine 
or  ten  men,  to  burn  weeds.  He  was  drawn  into  an 

was  harvesting-time.  The  Saybrook  garrison  went  to  gather 
their  corn.  They  had  cut  and  stored  a  portion  of  it.  Leaving 
five  men  to  guard  it  until  a  shallop  could  be  manned  and  sent 
to  bring  it  to  the  fort,  he  ordered  the  men  to  be  on  their  guard. 
Having  muskets,  they  were  over-confident,  and  three  of  them 
started  to  hunt  sea-fowl,  which  were  abundant.  They  fol 
lowed  their  sport  until  they  were  a  mile  from  the  fort.  The 
wooded  marshes  echoed  with  the  noise  of  their  muskets. 
Having  obtained  all  the  fowl  they  wished,  they  started  on 
their  return  to  the  corn-field.  The  Pequots,  watching  them, 
planned  an  ambuscade.  Once  the  English  were  fallen  into 
it,  the  savages  surrounded  them  and  let  fly  a  volley  of  arrows. 
Two  of  the  English  were  so  terrified  they  allowed  the  savages 
to  take  their  guns  from  them  without  resistance.  The  other, 
drawing  his  sword,  escaped.  The  two  captured  were  after 
ward  put  to  the  torture. 

The  following  day  the  men  came  in  the  shallop,  but  were 
afraid  to  finish  the  harvesting.  Loading  their  boat,  they 
sailed  back  to  the  fort,  the  smoke  of  their  burning  storehouse 
trailing  after  them  over  the  water. 

Gardener,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xxxiii.,  p.  142. 

DeForest,  Indians  of  Connecticut,  p.  107. 

1Gardener,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xxxiii.,  p.  142. 
[236] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

ambuscade,  and  lost  two  of  his  men.1    The  Pequods 
supposed  Gardener  was  killed,  and  at  once  invested 

1  It  was  right  after  this  that  "old  Mr.  Michell,  against  the 
protest  of  Gardener,  went  to  cut  some  hay  on  Six-Mile  Island, 
with  four  men  to  assist  him,  only  to  find  the  Pequots  lurking 
around  the  tall  grass."  Michell,  with  three  others,  made  a 
run  for  the  boat,  and  got  away  safely.  The  other,  "a  godly 
young  man  named  Butterfield,"  the  savages  captured  and 
roasted  alive. 

Gardener,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xxxiii.,  pp.  142,  143. 

Winthrop,  vol.  i.,  p.  198. 

Drake's  Boston,  p.  203. 

Hubbard,  p.  252. 

"In  the  22d  of  February,  I  went  out  with  ten  men,  and 
three  dogs,  half  a  mile  from  the  house,  to  burn  the  weeds, 
leaves  and  reeds,  upon  the  neck  of  land,  because  we  had  felled 
twenty  timber-trees,  which  we  were  to  roll  to  the  water-side 
to  bring  home,  every  man  carrying  a  length  of  match  with 
brimstone-matches  with  him  to  kindle  the  fire  withal.  But 
when  we  came  to  the  small  of  the  Neck,  the  woods  burning, 
I  having  before  this  set  two  sentinels  on  the  small  of  the  Neck, 
I  called  to  the  men  that  were  burning  the  reeds  to  come  away, 
but  they  wTould  not  until  they  had  burnt  up  the  rest  of  their 
matches.  Presently  there  starts  up  four  Indians  out  of  the 
fiery  reeds,  but  ran  away,  I  calling  to  the  rest  of  our  men  to 
come  away  out  of  the  marsh.  Then  Robert  Chapman  and 
Thomas  Hurlbut,  being  sentinels  called  to  me,  saying  there 
came  a  number  of  other  Indians  out  of  the  other  side  of  the 
marsh.  Then  I  went  to  stop  them,  that  they  should  not  get 
the  wood-land;  but  Thomas  Hurlbut  cried  out  to  me  that 
some  of  the  men  did  not  follow  me,  for  Thomas  Rumble  and 
Arthur  Branch,  threw  down  their  two  guns  and  ran  away; 
then  the  Indians  shot  two  of  them  that  were  in  the  reeds,  and 

[237] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

the  fort,  crying  out,  "  Come  fetch  your  Englishmen's 
clothes !  Come  out  and  fight,  if  you  dare !  You  dare 
not  fight !  You  are  all  like  women ! " 

sought  to  get  between  us  and  home,  but  durst  not  come  be 
fore  us,  but  kept  us  in  a  half -moon,  we  retreating  and  ex 
changing  many  a  shot,  so  that  Thomas  Hurlbut  was  shot 
almost  through  the  thigh,  John  Spencer  in  the  back,  into  his 
kidneys,  myself  into  the  thigh,  two  more  were  shot  dead. 
But  in  our  retreat  I  kept  Hurlbut  and  Spencer  still  before  us, 
we  defending  ourselves  with  our  naked  swords,  or  else  they 
had  taken  us  all  alive,  so  that  the  two  sore  wounded  men, 
by  our  slow  retreat,  got  home  with  their  guns,  when  our  two 
sound  men  ran  away  and  left  their  guns  behind  them.  But 
when  I  saw  the  cowards  that  left  us,  I  resolved  to  let  them 
draw  lots  which  of  them  should  be  hanged,  for  the  articles 
did  hang  up  in  the  hall  for  them  to  read,  and  they  knew  they 
had  been  published  long  before.  But  at  the  intercession  of 
old  Mr.  Michell,  Mr.  Higgisson  [Higginson],  and  Mr.  Pell, 
I  did  forbear.  Within  a  few  days  after,  when  I  had  cured 
myself  of  my  wound,  I  went  out  with  eight  men  to  get  some 
fowl  for  our  relief,  and  found  the  guns  that  were  thrown 
away,  and  the  body  of  one  man  shot  through,  the  arrow  going 
in  at  the  right  side,  the  head  sticking  fast,  half  through  a  rib 
on  the  left  side,  which  I  took  out  and  cleansed  it,  and  pre 
sumed  to  send  to  the  Bay,  because  they  had  said  that  the 
arrows  of  the  Indians  were  of  no  force. 

"Anthony  Dike,  master  of  a  bark,  having  his  bark  at 
Rhode  Island  in  the  winter,  was  sent  by  Mr.  Vane,  then 
Governor.  Anthony  came  to  Rhode  Island  by  land,  and 
from  thence  he  came  with  his  bark  to  me  with  a  letter,  where 
in  was  desired  that  I  should  consider  and  prescribe  the  best 
way  I  could  to  quell  these  Pequits,  which  I  also  did,  and 
with  my  letter  sent  the  man's  rib  as  a  token.  A  few  days 

[238] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

The  news  reaching  the  Bay  Colony  resulted  in 
the  sending  of  Captain  Mason  to  their  relief,  and 


after,  came  Thomas  Stanton  down  the  River,  and  staying  for 
a  wind,  while  he  was  there  came  a  troop  of  Indians  within 
musket  shot,  laying  themselves  and  their  arms  down  behind 
a  little  rising  hill  and  two  great  trees;  which  I  perceiving, 
called  the  carpenter  whom  I  had  shewed  how  to  charge  and 
level  a  gun,  and  that  he  should  put  two  cartridges  of  musket 
bullets  into  two  sakers  guns  that  lay  about;  and  we  levelled 
them  against  the  place,  and  I  told  him  that  he  must  look 
towards  me,  and  when  he  saw  me  wave  my  hat  above  my 
head  he  should  give  fire  to  both  the  guns;  then  presently 
came  three  Indians,  creeping  out  and  calling  to  us  to  speak 
with  us :  and  I  was  glad  that  Thomas  Stanton  was  there,  and 
I  sent  six  men  down  to  the  Garden  Pales  to  look  that  none 
should  come  under  the  hill  behind  us;  and  having  placed  the 
rest  in  places  convenient  closely,  Thomas  and  I  with  my 
sword,  pistol  and  carbine,  went  ten  or  twelve  poles  without 
the  gate  to  parley  with  them.  And  when  the  six  men  came  to 
the  Garden  Pales,  at  the  corner,  they  found  a  great  number 
of  Indians  creeping  behind  the  fort,  or  betwixt  us  and  home, 
but  they  ran  away.  Now  I  had  said  to  Thomas  Stanton, 
Whatsoever  they  say  to  you,  tell  me  first,  for  we  will  not  an 
swer  them  directly  to  anything,  for  I  knew  not  the  mind  of 
the  rest  of  the  English.  So  they  came  forth,  calling  us  nearer 
to  them,  and  we  them  nearer  to  us.  But  I  would  not  let 
Thomas  go  any  further  than  the  great  stump  of  a  tree,  and  I 
stood  by  him ;  then  they  asked  who  we  were,  and  he  answered 
Thomas  and  Lieutenant.  But  they  said  he  lied,  for  I  was 
shot  with  many  arrows;  and  so  I  was,  but  my  buff  coat  pre 
served  me,  only  one  hurt  me.  But  when  I  spake  to  them 
they  knew  my  voice,  for  one  of  them  had  dwelt  three  months 
with  us,  but  ran  away  when  the  Bay-men  came  first.  Then 

[239] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

the  Pequods  were  expelled.     Reenforced  by  the 
arrival  of  Captain  Underbill  and  some  of  his  men, 


they  asked  us  if  we  would  fight  with  Niantecut  Indians,  for 
they  were  our  friends  and  came  to  trade  with  us.  We  said 
we  knew  not  the  Indians  one  from  another,  and  therefore 
would  trade  with  none.  Then  they  said,  Have  you  fought 
enough  ?  We  said  we  knew  not  yet.  Then  they  asked  if  we 
did  use  to  kill  women  and  children  ?  We  said  that  they  should 
see  that  hereafter.  So  they  were  silent  a  small  space,  and 
then  they  said,  We  are  Pequits,  and  have  killed  Englishmen, 
and  can  kill  them  as  mosquetoss,  and  we  will  go  to  Conecte- 
cott  and  kill  men,  women,  and  children,  and  we  will  take 
away  the  horses,  cows  and  hogs.  When  Thomas  Stanton  had 
told  me  this,  he  prayed  me  to  shoot  that  rogue,  for,  said  he, 
he  hath  an  Englishman's  coat  on,  and  saith  that  he  hath 
killed  three,  and  these  other  four  have  their  cloathes  on  their 
backs.  I  said,  No,  it  is  not  the  manner  of  a  parley,  but  have 
patience  and  I  shall  fit  them  ere  they  go.  Nay,  now  or  never, 
said  he;  so  when  he  could  get  no  other  answer  but  this  last,  I 
bid  him  tell  them  that  they  should  not  go  to  Conectecott,  for 
if  they  did  kill  all  the  men,  and  take  all  the  rest  as  they  said, 
it  would  do  them  no  good,  but  hurt,  for  English  women  are 
lazy,  and  can't  do  their  work ;  horses  and  cows  will  spoil  your 
corn-fields,  and  the  hogs  their  clam-banks,  and  so  undo  them : 
then  I  pointed  to  our  great  house,  and  bid  him  tell  them  there 
lay  twenty  pieces  of  trucking-cloth,  of  Mr.  Pincheon's,  with 
hoes,  hatchets,  and  all  manner  of  trade,  they  were  better  [to] 
fight  still  with  us,  and  so  get  all  that,  and  then  go  up  the  river 
after  they  had  killed  all  us.  Having  heard  this,  they  were 
mad  as  dogs,  and  ran  away;  then  when  they  came  to  the  place 
from  whence  they  came,  I  waved  my  hat  about  my  head,  and 
the  two  great  guns  went  off,  so  that  there  was  a  great  hubbub 
amongst  them.  Then  two  days  after,  came  down  Capt. 

[240] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

the  Indians  disappeared  in  the  direction  of  Wethers- 
field,  where  two  hundred  of  them  swooped  down 
upon  the  town.1  Nine  of  the  settlers  were  killed, 

Mason,  and  Sergeant  Seely,  with  five  men  more,  to  see  how 
it  was  with  us;  and  whilst  they  were  there,  came  down  a 
Dutch  boat,  telling  us  the  Indians  had  killed  fourteen  Eng 
lish,  for  by  that  boat  I  had  sent  up  letters  to  Conectecott, 
what  I  heard,  and  what  I  thought,  and  how  to  prevent  that 
threatened  danger,  and  received  back  again  rather  a  scoff, 
than  any  thanks,  for  my  care  and  pains.  But  as  I  wrote,  so 
it  fell  out  to  my  great  grief  and  theirs,  for  the  next,  or  second 
day  after,  (as  Major  Mason  well  knows,)  came  down  a  great 
many  canoes,  going  down  the  creek  beyond  the  marsh,  be 
fore  the  fort,  many  of  them  having  white  shirts;  then  I  com 
manded  the  carpenter  whom  I  had  shewed  to  level  great  guns, 
to  put  in  two  round  shot  into  the  two  sackers,  and  we  levelled 
them  at  a  certain  place,  and  I  stood  to  bid  him  give  fire,  when 
I  thought  the  canoe  wherein  the  two  maids  were,  that  were 
taken  by  the  Indians,  whom  I  redeemed  and  clothed,  for  the 
Dutchmen,  whom  I  sent  to  fetch  them,  brought  them  away 
almost  naked  from  Pequit,  they  putting  on  their  own  linen 
jackets  to  cover  their  nakedness ;  and  though  the  redemption 
cost  me  ten  pounds,  I  am  yet  to  have  thanks  for  my  care  and 
charge  about  them;  these  things  are  known  to  Major  Mason." 

Gardener's  Pequot  Warres,  p.  15. 

lrThe  Wethersfield  Colony  had  its  land  from  Sequin,  or 
Sowheag,  and  was  situated  on  the  Connecticut  River.  One 
of  the  conditions  of  this  sale  was  that  the  grantor  might  reside 
in  the  near  vicinity,  and  under  the  protection  of  the  English. 
The  settlers  built  their  cabins,  and  not  far  away  Sowheag 
set  up  the  poles  for  his  wigwam.  For  some  reason  or  other, 
not  long  after,  the  English  picked  a  quarrel  with  this  sachem 
and  drove  him  out  of  the  settlement.  Unable  to  redress  his 

[241] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

men,  women,  and  children,  and  two  young  women 
were  taken  captives.  These  were  afterwards  re 
deemed  by  the  Dutch.  It  was  shortly  before  Gard 
ener  went  out  to  burn  the  grass  that  John  Tilly 
was  captured,  tied  to  a  stake,  flayed  alive;  burning 
coals  were  thrust  into  his  flesh,  and  his  hands  and 


own  wrongs,  he  turned  to  the  Pequots,  who  acceded  to  his 
desire  for  revenge. 

It  was  in  April,  1637.  A  man  riding  his  horse  near  this 
settlement  discovered  a  considerable  body  of  savages  stealing 
upon  the  town.  Retracing  his  journey,  he  put  spurs  to  his 
horse  and  galloped  into  the  settlement  to  give  the  alarm. 

He  met  some  women  who  doubted  his  tale  of  the  Pequots, 
so  he  spurred  his  horse  anew  to  find  more  credulous  listeners. 
He  was  too  late.  The  elder  woman,  a  few  minutes  later,  was 
brained  on  the  spot.  The  two  girls  who  accompanied  her 
were  captured.  Wethersfield  was  surprised.  The  men  were 
taken  at  their  work  in  the  fields.  Two  other  women  and  six 
men  were  butchered,  and  twenty  head  of  cattle  were  killed. 
It  does  not  seem  that  the  Pequots  thought  of  burning  Wethers- 
field.  The  two  girls  were  later  redeemed  by  the  Dutch. 

Johnson's  Wonder-working  Providence. 

Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xxiv.,  p.  30. 

Winthrop,  vol.  i.,  p.  218 

DeForest,  Indians  of  Connecticut,  p.  113. 

Trumbull  mentions  two  girls,  "daughters  of  Mr.  Gib 
bons,"  who  "were  in  the  most  brutal  manner  put  to  death. 
After  gashing  their  flesh  with  their  knives,  the  Indians  filled 
their  wounds  with  hot  embers,  in  the  meantime  mimicking 
their  dying  groans." 

Indian  Wars,  p.  48. 

The  writer  does  not  find  this  incident  mentioned  elsewhere. 
[242] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

feet  cut  off,  in  which  condition  he  lived  three  days.1 
This  was  a  succession  of  tragic  incidents  which 
carried  alarm  to  all  the  colonists,  and  thoroughly 
aroused  the  English  to  a  realization  that  an  effectual 
blow  against  the  Pequods  must  be  struck  without 
further  delay. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  the  General  Court 
which  sat  at  Hartford.     On  this  occasion  it  con- 


1  "There  came  from  the  Bay,  Mr.  Tille,  with  a  permit  to  go 
up  to  Harford  [Hartford],  and  coming  ashore  he  saw  a  paper 
nailed  up  over  the  fort  gate,  whereon  was  written,  that  no 
boat  or  bark  should  pass  the  fort,  but  they  come  to  an  anchor 
first,  that  I  might  see  whether  they  were  armed  and  manned 
sufficiently,  and  they  were  not  to  land  anywhere  after  they 
passed  the  fort  till  they  came  to  Wethersfield :  and  I  did  this 
because  Mr.  Michell  had  lost  a  shallop  before  coming  down 
from  Wethersfield  with  three  men,  well  armed." 

Gardener's  Pequot  Warres,  p.  19. 

Tilly  was  incensed  at  what  seemed  to  him  an  interference 
with  his  prerogative,  and  Gardener  records  that  the  gentle 
man  from  Boston  used  "ill  language"  toward  him.  When 
Tilly  had  vented  his  anger,  Gardener  told  him  to  go  to  his 
warehouse,  which  the  former  had  put  up  when  here  before. 
Tilly  discovered  that  his  house  and  storehouse  had  been  de 
stroyed;  but  Gardener,  anticipating  the  savages,  had  stored 
Tilly's  property  in  a  safer  place. 

Gardener  gave  Tilly  his  goods,  after  which  Tilly  went  up 
the  river.  Returning,  he  landed  at  what  is  now  Tilly's  Point, 
to  which  Gardener  gave  the  name  of  "Tilly's  Folly."  "Hav 
ing  a  fair  wind,  he  came  to  anchor,  and  with  one  man  went 
ashore,  discharged  his  gun.  The  Indians  fell  upon  him, 
killed  the  others,  and  carried  him  alive  over  the  river  in  our 

[243] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

sisted  of  two  magistrates  and  three  committeemen 
from  each  of  the  three  towns  of  Windsor,  Hartford, 
and  Wethersfield.  This  trio  of  towns  comprised  the 
Connecticut  Colony.  It  was  held  on  the  eleventh 
day  of  May,  and  was  one  of  the  most  important 
meetings,  having  reference  to  its  results,  in  the 
history  of  Connecticut.  While  the  court  were  of  the 
opinion  that  the  prospect  was  doubtful  of  main 
taining  their  footing  against  the  Indians,  on  account 
of  the  great  numbers  of  the  latter,  and  were  some 
what  disturbed  over  the  apparent  defection  of  the 
Narragansetts,  whom  they  looked  upon  as  their 
allies,  they  were  no  less  determined  to  take  the 
chances.  While  the  Indians  were  scantily  armed, 
their  knowledge  of  the  country,  their  subtlety  and 
audacity,  in  a  large  degree  balanced  the  chances  of 
war.  A  defensive  war  would  be  of  little  use;  and  so 
far  as  an  offensive  position  on  their  part  was  pos 
sible,  it  would  seem  to  be  of  small  efficacy,  as  the 

sight  before  my  shallop  could  come  to  them;  for,  immediately 
I  sent  seven  men  to  fetch  the  Paik  (small  vessel)  down,  or  else 
it  had  been  taken,  and  three  more." 

Gardener's  Pequot  Warres,  p.  20. 

Tilly  was  put  to  the  torture.  His  hands  and  feet  were  cut 
off.  Hot  coals  were  thrust  into  his  flesh.  He  died  like  the 
savage  stoic,  without  a  moan.  The  Pequots  could  not  con 
ceal  their  admiration  of  his  courage  and  endurance. 

Gardener's  Mass.  Hist.  Co//.,  vol.  xxxiii.,  p.  147. 

Winthrop,  vol.  i.,  p.  200. 

Underbill,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xxxvi.,  p.  15. 

[244] 


THE  PEQTJOD  WAR 

three  towns  contained  hardly  more  than  two  hun 
dred  and  fifty  men.  No  help  had  been  offered  by 
the  Bay  Colony,  yet  it  was  as  evident  that  some  de 
cision  must  be  made;  and  the  court  finally  decided 
that  war  should  be  carried  into  the  enemy's  coun 
try.  For  the  first  company,  a  levy  of  ninety  men 
was  made  on  the  three  towns.  Hartford  was  to  fur 
nish  forty- two;  Windsor,  thirty;  and  Wethersfield, 
eighteen.  The  needed  supplies  and  munitions 
were  voted.  John  Mason  was  made  commander- 
in-chief.1 

These  settlers  were  poor;  they  lacked  most  of  the 
comforts  of  civilization;  and,  as  has  been  noticed, 
the  first  winter  they  suffered  from  lack  of  food.  The 
Bay  Colony  had  been  singularly  indifferent.  No 
help  had  been  received  from  it,  except  the  expedi 
tion  of  Endicott,  which,  as  Gardener  prophesied, 
could  bring  only  misfortune.  In  various  letters  the 
Connecticut  Court  had  described  to  the  government 


1  John  Mason  had  served  under  Sir  Thomas  Fairfax  in  the 
Netherlands,  where  his  abilities  and  courage  attracted  his 
general's  attention.  He  was  a  very  tall  man,  of  large  physique; 
energetic,  of  a  stern,  but  not  headlong  disposition;  moral,  yet 
not  religious;  for  the  work  in  hand,  he  was  of  the  same  re 
lentless  fiber  as  Miles  Standish.  It  was  a  crisis  in  the  affairs 
of  the  Connecticut  Colony,  and  Mason  was  "the  man  for  the 
hour." 

Allen,  Biographical  Dictionary  of  New  England. 

DeForest,  Indians  of  Connecticut,  p.  119. 

TrumbulFs  History  of  the  Indians,  p.  52. 

[245] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

of  Massachusetts  their  situation.  They  disapproved 
of  Endicott's  expedition,  and  had  enumerated  the 
troubles  which  had  befallen  the  colonists  of  Con 
necticut  in  consequence  of  it.  They  charged  the 
provocation  of  the  war  upon  the  people  of  Massa 
chusetts;  and  they  urged  upon  the  latter  that,  so 
long  as  they  had  begun  it,  it  was  most  desirable 
that  the  procedure  of  the  same  should  go  on  under 
their  direction.  They  finally  notified  Governor 
Vane  that  they  had  decided  to  push  the  war  against 
the  Pequods  into  their  own  country.  Uncas  was  a 
Pequod1  who  had  rebelled  against  Sassacus;  and, 
joined  by  a  number  of  Indians,  he  made  his  ap 
pearance  in  Hartford  and  offered  himself  as  an  ally 
to  the  Connecticut  Colony.  His  warriors  numbered 
about  seventy.  Massachusetts  and  Plymouth,  be- 

JThe  Pequot  country  extended  from  Niantic  on  the  west 
to  the  Rhode  Island  line  on  the  east,  taking  in  Waterford, 
New  London,  and  Montville  west  of  the  Thames  River  and 
Groton,  Stonington,  and  North  Stonington  on  the  east,  in 
cluding  the  country  to  north  of  this,  with  the  county  of  Wind- 
ham,  and  a  portion  of  Tolland. 

A  difference  has  been  made  between  the  Mohegans  and 
the  Pequots.  Uncas,  the  great  Mohegan  sachem,  was  of 
royal  Pequot  blood.  His  ancestors  were  Pequots.  His  wife 
was  the  daughter  of  the  sachem  Tatobam.  Uncas  had  been  a 
sachem  under  Sassacus,  the  royal  head  of  the  Pequot  nation. 
When  the  English  came  to  Connecticut  Uncas  was  carrying 
on  a  rebellion,  and  to  save  himself  from  the  vengeance  of 
Sassacus  he  lent  his  allegiance  to  the  English. 

Uncas  is  described  as  a  savage  of  huge  stature,  and  of  great 

[246] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

ing  fully  convinced  that  the  Connecticut  Colony  had 
determined  to  proceed  forthwith  against  the  Pe- 
quods,  came  to  a  realizing  sense  of  the  situation. 

bravery  and  strength.  He  was  a  past-master  in  stratagem, 
and  cared  more  for  plunder  than  for  glory.  He  was  careful 
of  his  own  men,  and,  therefore,  popular.  An  apt  politician, 
he  was  selfish,  jealous,  and  inclined  to  play  the  tyrant. 
Possessed  of  many  bad  traits,  he  had  no  great  ones.  He 
served  the  English  as  the  means  to  an  end,  which  was  the 
consummation  of  his  own  personal  animosities.  In  these 
days  he  would  have  been  a  political  ward-boss. 

Uncas  was  buried  in  the  royal  burying-ground  of  his  race, 
just  by  the  falls  in  the  Yantic  River,  "  a  beautiful  and  romantic 
spot." 

Gardener's  Pequot  Warres,  p.  7. 

Drake's  History  of  the  Indians,  p.  89. 

James  Fitch,  who  was  sent  among  the  Mohegans  as  a  mis 
sionary,  calls  Uncas  "an  old  and  wicked,  wilful  man,  a 
drunkard,  and  very  vicious." 

There  was  a  feud  between  Uncas  and  Miantonomoh.  The 
former  came  near  being  killed  by  an  arrow  from  a  Pequot 
bow-string,  at  the  instigation  of  the  latter.  For  this,  Mian 
tonomoh  was  sent  for  by  Winthrop.  Miantonomoh  took  the 
would-be  assassin  along  with  him.  The  Pequot  was  proven 
guilty,  "out  of  his  own  mouth."  Winthrop  would  have  sent 
him  to  Uncas.  Miantonomoh  protested  that  he  would  send 
the  Pequot  to  Uncas  himself,  to  be  examined  and  punished. 
Contrary  to  his  promise,  he  killed  his  accomplice  ("cut  off 
the  Peacott's  head  that  he  might  tell  no  tales").  Subsequent 
attempts  were  made  on  the  life  of  Uncas,  once  by  poison. 

After  this  one  of  Sequassen's  company,  a  sachem  whose 
intimacies  with  Miantonomoh  had  engaged  them  as  con 
federates  in  many  obscure  matters,  shot  an  arrow  at  Uncas 

[247] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

Both  voted  to  furnish  men  in  behalf  of  the  Connec 
ticut  people.  The  Massachusetts  Colony  were  to 
raise  two  hundred  men;  the  Plymouth  Colony, 

as  he  was  going  down  the  Connecticut  River.  Uncas  com 
plained  to  the  English  of  these  assaults  upon  his  safety,  where 
upon  the  English  endeavored  to  unite  Sequassen  and  Uncas 
in  overtures  of  peace.  Sequassen  referred  the  Narragansetts 
to  Miantonomoh  as  his  superior  sachem.  This  was  followed 
by  Miantonomoh's  marching  against  Uncas  with  one  thou 
sand  warriors.  They  found  Uncas  unprepared,  having  but 
four  hundred  men  to  oppose  to  this  considerable  force.  After 
a  stout  battle,  the  Narragansetts  were  routed  and  Miantono 
moh  was  taken  prisoner.  He  was  given  up  by  two  of  his  own 
men,  who  expected  to  save  their  lives  by  their  treachery. 
When  Miantonomoh  was  captured  he  was  discovered  to  be 
encased  in  a  coat  of  mail. 

When  his  captive,  who  showed  his  indifference  by  his 
silence,  was  brought  to  him,  Uncas  said,  "If  you  had  taken 
me,  I  should  have  besought  you  for  my  life."  Uncas  then 
took  Miantonomoh  to  Hartford,  where  he  delivered  him  into 
the  hands  of  the  English  until  it  should  be  decided  what 
should  be  done  with  his  inveterate  enemy.  The  government 
at  Boston  was  of  the  opinion  it  would  not  be  safe  to  give  him 
his  liberty,  and  there  seemed  no  sufficient  ground  to  put  him 
to  death.  With  the  aid  of  the  council,  "five  of  the  most 
judicious  elders,"  they  came  to  a  decision.  Enjoining 
secrecy  upon  all,  they  made  known  their  ruling  to  Uncas 
privately,  instructing  him  to  attend  to  the  execution  of  Mian 
tonomoh  within  his  own  jurisdiction,  and  without  witnesses. 
Pilate-like,  the  Puritans  washed  their  hands  of  responsibility, 
willing  that  the  Mohegans  should  have  the  odium  of  the 
matter. 

Uncas  was  promised  the  protection  of  the  English;  and 

[248] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

forty.1  Captain  Daniel  Patrick  was  despatched 
with  forty  men  overland,  by  the  Bay  Colony,  to 
connect  with  the  Narragansetts.  The  Pequods  had 
sent  their  women  and  children  to  Block  Island, 
which  was  also  Patrick's  destination.2  When  they 

the  former  being  willing  to  conform  to  the  desire  of  the  Eng 
lish,  once  within  his  own  domain,  "Uncas'  brother,  following 
after  Miantonomoh,  clave  his  head  with  a  hatchet."  Mather 
has  it,  "They  very  fairly  cut  off  his  head." 

JWinthrop,  vol.  L,  p.  222. 
Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xxxiii.,  p.  133. 

2  "The  march  of  those  from  Massachusetts  was  retarded  by 
a  most  singular  Cause  that  ever  influenced  the  Operation  of  a 
Military  Force.  When  they  were  mustered  previous  to  their 
Departure,  it  was  found  that  some  of  the  Officers,  as  well  as 
the  private  Soldiers,  were  still  under  the  Covenant  of  Works; 
and  that  the  Blessing  of  God  could  not  be  implored  or  ex 
pected  to  crown  the  Arms  of  such  unhallowed  Men  with 
Success.  The  Alarm  was  general,  and  many  Arrangements 
necessary  in  order  to  call  out  the  Unclean,  and  to  render  this 
little  Band  sufficiently  pure  to  fight  the  Battles  of  a  People 
who  entertained  high  Ideas  of  their  own  Sanctity." 

Robertson's  America,  bk.  x. 

Neal's  History  of  New  England,  vol.  i.,  p.  184. 

Winthrop  does  not  give  the  date  of  Patrick's  march  from 
Boston.  Hubbard  says  Winthrop  was  so  busy  "engineering 
at  Elections"  that  he  did  not  date  this  and  other  happenings 
of  that  time,  so  it  is  not  known  how  much  Patrick  was  delayed 
by  the  "Covenant  of  Good  Works," 

Indian  Wars,  p.  20,  note. 

In  this  election  Governor  Harry  Vane  was  defeated  by 
Winthrop.  Vane  was  thought  to  be  tainted  with  the  so-called 

[249] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

had  subdued  Block  Island,  the  plan  was  for  them 
to  return  to  the  mainland,  where  they  were  to  join 
the  Connecticut  soldiers  for  immediate  proceedings 
against  the  Pequods. 

May  20,  1637,  Captain  Mason,  with  ninety  Eng 
lishmen  and  seventy  Indians,  dropped  down  the 
river  in  three  small  vessels.  After  repeated  delays 
by  grounding,  on  account  of  the  shallowness  of 
the  water,  the  Indian  allies  were  set  ashore,  with 
instructions  to  make  Saybrook  by  land.  On  their 
way  through  the  woods  they  met  a  party  of  Pequods, 
numbering  thirty  or  forty.  They  killed  seven  of 
them,  with  one  man  wounded  on  their  own  side. 
Mason  proceeded  by  water  in  the  three  small  craft 


heresy  of  antinomianism.  Wheelwright,  a  leader  of  the  cult, 
preached  to  crowded  audiences.  Vane,  who  is  described  as  a 
young  man  of  great  talents  and  heir  to  a  princely  fortune,  the 
son  of  the  chief  secretary  of  Charles  I.,  took  to  the  Puritan 
tenets  with  a  singular  zeal.  He  came  over  to  Boston  and  took 
up  his  residence  with  Mr.  Cotton.  He  was  most  warmly 
welcomed,  and  at  the  gubernatorial  election  following  his 
arrival  he  was  made  governor,  at  the  age  of  twenty-four.  At 
the  succeeding  election  he  was  defeated  by  the  country  out 
side  Boston,  which  followed  the  influence  of  its  old  ministers. 
This  election  was  held  at  Cambridge,  lest  the  electors  should 
be  influenced  by  the  Boston  interests,  which  supported  Vane 
by  a  considerable  majority.  After  his  defeat  he  returned  to 
England,  where,  after  the  restoration  of  Charles  n.,  he  was 
tried  for  alleged  political  offences,  and  judicially  murdered. 

Pierce,  Book  of  the  Colonies,  p.  182. 

Pictorial  History  of  the  United  States. 

[250] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

which  De  Forest  describes  as  a  pink,  a  pinnace, 
and  a  shallop.  After  lightening  these  small  vessels 
the  English  got  on  very  well  down  stream,  join 
ing  Uncas  and  his  party  at  Saybrook.  On  hearing 
the  relation  by  Uncas  of  his  exploit  in  the  woods, 
they  felt  assured  of  his  fidelity.  Lieutenant  Lion 
Gardener,  whose  knowledge  of  the  savages  made 
him  less  credulous,  asked  Mason  how  he  could 
trust  the  Mohegans,  who  had  been  so  short  a  time 
away  from  their  own  people,  who  had  become  open 
enemies  of  the  English.  Mason  replied  to  him 
that  he  was  "forced  to  trust  them,  for  we  want 
them  to  guide  us."  Gardener,  still  doubtful,  sug 
gested  to  Uncas,  ;<You  say  that  you  will  help 
Captain  Mason,  but  I  will  first  see  it;  therefore 
send  twenty  men  to  Bass  River,  for  there  went  six 
Indians  there  in  a  canoe,  fetch  them  dead  or  alive 
and  you  shall  go  with  Mason,  or  else  you  shall 
not."1  Uncas  started  off  on  his  errand,  discovered 
the  enemy,  killed  four  of  them,  and  made  prisoner 
of  another.  This  captive  was  called  Kiswas.  He 
had  lived  much  of  the  time  in  the  neighborhood, 

1  Lion  Gardener  was  sent  over  by  Lords  Say  and  Seal  and 
Brook  to  construct  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Connecticut 
River,  to  command  it,  etc.  He  was  said  to  be  a  skilful  engi 
neer,  and  on  that  account  was  selected.  He  had  seen  some 
service  in  the  Low  Countries  under  General  Fairfax.  He 
came  to  this  country  about  the  year  1633,  or  1634,  and  erected 
a  fort  at  Saybrook  in  Connecticut,  which  was  so  named  in 
honor  of  Lord  Say  and  Seal  and  Lord  Brook.  .  .  .  He  was 

[251] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

a  portion  of  which  he  spent  at  the  fort,  and  could 
speak  English.  Since  the  Pequod  outbreak  he 
had  been  around  the  fort  much  of  the  time,  where 
he  had  acted  as  a  spy  upon  the  garrison;  and  he 
had  as  well  been  present  at  those  massacres  which 
had  taken  place  in  the  immediate  neighborhood. 
Uncas  claimed  him  as  a  captive,  and  demanded 
that  he  be  turned  over  to  his  people  for  disposition.1 
It  may  be  noted  here  that  a  Dutch  vessel  arrived 

in  command  of  this  fort  when  Capt.  John  Mason  conquered 
the  Pequots. 

Gardener  was  in  command  of  the  fort  for  some  time,  and 
once  came  near  being  captured  by  the  Pequots.  He  later  re 
moved  to  Gardener  Island,  in  Gardener  Bay,  where  he  died. 
The  area  of  this  island  is  about  twenty-five  hundred  acres, 
and  it  is  a  most  beautiful  spot.  It  was  an  entailed  estate, 
whose  proprietors  were  known  as  Lords.  There  is  a  tradition 
that  the  island  was  conveyed  to  Lion  Gardener  by  the  sachem 
Waiandance  out  of  the  latter's  gratitude  for  Gardener's 
efforts  to  ransom  this  sachem's  daughter,  who  had  been  cap 
tured  and  carried  off  by  Ninigret  during  the  war  between  the 
Nehantics  and  the  Indians  of  Long  Island. 

Gardener's  Island  has  a  history  under  the  Lords  of  the 
Gardener  Manor,  by  itself. 

Gardener,  Pequot  Warres. 

Vincent,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xxxvi.,  p.  36. 

DeForest,  Indians  of  Connecticut,  p.  121. 

1  Among  the  prisoners  was  one  who  was  recognized  as  "a 
perfidious  villain."  In  this  designation  of  the  savage,  Trum- 
bull  refers  to  Kiswas.  This  savage  had  lived  much  at  the 
fort  and  understood  English  fairly.  Upon  the  commencement 
of  hostilities  on  the  part  of  the  Pequots  he  was  apparently  at- 

[252] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

in  the  river  to  drop  anchor  under  the  guns  of  Say- 
brook  a  little  before  the  arrival  of  Mason.  Garde 
ner,  ascertaining  that  the  Dutch  were  on  their  way 
to  trade  with  the  Pequods,  forbade  them  doing  so, 
fearful  that  out  of  the  supplies  which  the  Dutch 
might  carry  to  the  Indians  some  might  be  converted 
into  arrow-heads  or  other  weapons  of  offence.  A 
dispute  arose,  which  the  Dutch  finally  ended  by 
proposing  that,  if  they  were  allowed  to  go  to  the 

tached  to  the  English.  Once  the  first  overt  act  was  committed, 
he  left  the  fort  to  become  a  guide  to  the  Pequots.  Through 
his  instigation,  many  of  the  English  were  captured  and  killed. 
Kiswas  was  captured  by  some  of  Uncas's  party,  and  Uncas  in 
sisted  that  he  be  put  to  the  torture  in  accordance  with  the 
ancient  customs  of  the  Narragansetts.  The  English  yielded  to 
this  request  out  of  policy;  so  the  savages  kindled  a  fire  near 
which  was  a  stake,  to  which  Kiswas  was  securely  bound. 
They  kept  him  there  until  his  skin  was  flayed  with  the  heat. 
The  Mohegans  then  violently  tore  him  limb  from  limb,  and 
barbarously  cutting  his  flesh  in  pieces,  handed  it  around  from 
one  to  another,  eating  it,  while  they  sung  and  danced  around 
the  fire  in  a  manner  peculiar  to  savages;  the  bones  and  such 
parts  of  the  unfortunate  captive  as  were  not  consumed  in  this 
dreadful  repast  were  committed  to  the  flames  and  consumed 
to  ashes. 

Trumbull,  Indian  Wars,  p.  54. 

DeForest,  Indians  of  Connecticut,  p.  121. 

Gardener's  Warres,  p.  21. 

Drake  doubts  Trumbull's  relation  of  the  cannibalism  of 
the  Mohegans  at  the  torturing  of  Kiswas. 

Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  pp.  86,  103. 

Trumbull,  History  of  the  Indians,  p.  59. 

[253] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

Pequods,  they  would  ransom  the  two  English  girls 
who  had  been  captured  a  short  time  before  by  the 
Indians,  in  their  raid  on  Wethersfield.  This  offer 
was  accepted  by  Gardener,  and  the  Dutch  kept  on 
up  the  river  until  they  came  to  Pequod  Harbor, 
where  they  anchored.  They  sent  their  men  on 
shore,  as  was  their  wont,  offering  to  trade.  They 
would  sell  the  Indians  whatever  they  had  in  their 
store;  but  in  return  for  the  same,  instead  of  the 
usual  articles  of  furs  and  wampum,  they  would  take 
the  two  English  girls.  The  sachem  Sassacus,  who 
happened  there,  refused  to  give  up  his  captives, 
while  the  Dutch,  with  something  of  a  spirit  of  re 
prisal  and  without  exerting  their  conscience  in  the 
matter,  succeeded  in  getting  seven  of  the  Pequods 
on  board  their  vessel.  Some  of  these  were  sachems, 
whom  they  immediately  made  prisoners.  After 
that  was  accomplished  the  Dutch  called  to  the 
Pequods  on  the  river-bank,  "We  have  seven  of 
your  people  on  board  our  vessel;  if  ye  desire  them 
again  ye  must  give  us  the  two  English  girls;  tell  us 
quickly  whether  ye  will  do  so;  for  if  not,  we  will 
hoist  sail  and  drop  all  your  men  overboard  in  the 
main  ocean."  The  Pequods  shouted  back  in  de 
rision,  regarding  this  as  an  empty  threat,  still  re 
fusing  to  deliver  the  captives,  upon  which  the 
Dutch  got  up  their  anchor.  By  the  time  they 
reached  the  mouth  of  the  stream  the  Pequods  be 
came  convinced  that  the  Dutch  meant  what  they 
said,  and  followed  them  in  several  canoes,  taking 

[254] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

along  with  them  the  two  English  girls.  When  they 
had  overtaken  the  Dutch  another  parley  was  had. 
The  ruse  was  successful.  The  Indians  were  re 
leased  and  the  two  girls  were  in  the  way  of  being 
restored  to  their  friends.  The  Dutch,  true  to  their 
word,  kept  on  to  Say  brook,  where  they  met  another 
Dutch  vessel  which  the  New  Netherlands  governor 
had  despatched  for  the  express  purpose  of  obtaining 
these  girls  upon  any  conditions,  and  to  engage  in  a 
war  with  the  Pequods,  if  it  were  necessary,  to  get 
them.1 

As  before  mentioned,  Mason  had  reached  Say- 
brook.  It  was  here  the  Dutch  found  him.  Mason 
had  thus  an  opportunity  of  acquiring  through  these 
girls  the  latest  intelligence  concerning  the  Pequods, 
which  was  that  the  latter  had  sixteen  guns,  with  a 
small  quantity  of  powder  and  shot.  They  reported 
also  that  the  Indians  were  very  curious  as  to  whether 
they  could  make  powder,  and  were  much  disap 
pointed  when  they  found  they  could  not.  As  a 
result  of  their  ignorance,  the  savages  set  less  value 
on  the  fire-arms.  They  said  they  had  been  kindly 
treated,  which  was  due  to  one  of  the  squaws  of 
Mononotto,  who  ranked  next  to  Sassacus  as  a 


1  DeForest,  Indians  of  Connecticut,  p.  123. 

These  two  girls  were  carried  from  Saybrook  to  New  Am 
sterdam  at  the  Dutch  governor's  special  request,  so  curious 
was  he  to  see  them  "with  his  own  eyes." 

Ibid,  supra. 

[255] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

sachem.  They  thought  it  was  through  that  squaw 
they  had  been  saved  from  torture.  The  Pequods 
had  taken  them  from  place  to  place,  and  had  ex 
hibited  to  them  their  wigwams  and  such  things  as 
they  held  in  high  value,  and  had  endeavored  in 
many  ways  to  please  them,  and  to  make  their  cap 
tivity  less  irksome.  From  Say  brook  the  girls  were 
taken  to  New  Amsterdam,  as  the  governor  wished 
to  see  them;  after  which  they  were  returned  in 
safety  to  Wethersfield,  forty-six  miles  up  the  river.1 
Mason's  instructions  were  that  he  should  attack 
the  enemy  by  making  an  immediate  landing  at 
Pequod  Harbor.  He  was  so  instructed  in  a  letter 
which  the  magistrates  caused  to  be  conveyed  to 
him  while  he  was  at  Say  brook.  His  knowledge  of 
military  affairs  led  him  to  disprove  of  this  plan,  and 
he  expressed  his  desire  to  sail  first  to  the  country  of 
the  Narragansetts.  He  said  of  the  Pequods: 
"They  keep  a  continual  guard  upon  their  river, 
night  and  day,  they  were  armed  as  the  maids  said 
they  were,  with  sixteen  pieces,  also  powder  and 
shot.  Their  numbers  being  greatly  superior  to  ours 
would  make  it  difficult  for  us  to  land  in  their  faces, 
also,  if  we  affect  the  landing  they  will  fly  away  and 
hide  in  their  swamps  and  thickets,  whereas  if  we  go 
first  to  Narragansett,  we  shall  come  upon  them  at 

Underbill,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xxxvi.,  pp.  17,  18,  19, 
says,  "Gardener  says  he  paid  the  Dutch  ten  pounds  for 
ransoming  the  girls." 

[256] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

their  backs  and  so  may  take  them  by  a  surprise, 
where  they  least  expect  it."1  His  officers  and  men 
were  not  agreeable  to  this  proposition;  they  were 
not  in  favor  of  a  long  march  through  the  wilderness. 
They  did  not  conceal  their  anxiety  to  get  back  to 
their  families,  and  were  in  favor  of  taking  the 
shorter  way  to  Pequod  Harbor,  and  there  make  a 
decisive  battle  with  the  savages.  When  the  court 
issued  the  commission  to  Mason  giving  him  the 
direction  of  the  Connecticut  forces  they  appointed 
a  chaplain  by  the  name  of  Stone.  It  was  at  this 
point  of  the  argument  they  all  agreed  in  desiring 
the  chaplain  to  make  invocation  that  they  might  be 
given  the  wisdom  and  guidance  of  God,  that  what 
ever  they  did  might  be  done  in  accordance  with  the 
Divine  Providence.  It  is  reported  that  the  chaplain 
devoted  the  larger  part  of  the  night  to  prayer.  In 
the  morning  he  told  Captain  Mason  and  the  rest  of 
the  party  that  he  was  convinced  they  should  go  to 
Narragansett.  Without  further  hesitation  Mason's 
plan  was  accepted.  Mason  despatched  twenty  men 
up  the  river,  that  they  might  assist  in  the  defence 
of  the  settlers  if  necessary.  This  diminution  of  Ma 
son's  forces  was  supplemented  by  an  addition  to 
it  by  Capt.  John  Underbill2  and  nineteen  others 
from  the  fort. 

1  Mason,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xviii.,  p.  134. 

2  Captain  John  Underbill  was  an  original  member  of  the 
Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  Company  of  Boston.    An 

[257] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

They  set  sail  from  Say  brook  May  29,  Friday. 
On  Saturday,  by  dusk,  they  had  dropped  anchor  off 
the  shores  of  Narragansett.  Time  was  precious,  yet 
they  realized  the  futility  of  making  land  that  night. 

eccentric  man,  he  went  to  excess  in  whatever  he  undertook. 
In  religion  he  was  an  enthusiast;  in  practice,  a  debauche. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Puritan  Church  of  that  time,  before 
which  he  was  once  arraigned  for  offences.  One  of  the  curious 
charges  brought  against  him  was  that  he  dated  his  conversion 
from  an  occasion  when  he  was  smoking  tobacco.  When  "the 
spirit  set  home  upon  me  an  absolute  promise  of  free  grace, 
with  such  assurance  and  joy  that  he  had  never  since  doubted 
his  good  estate,  neither  should  he,  whatever  since  he  might 
fall  into."  In  a  trial  before  the  court,  he  was  found  guilty  of 
abusing  them  with  a  "pretended  retraction,"  for  which  on 
the  following  day  he  was  banished.  Allowed  the  opportunity, 
however,  of  attending  public  worship,  his  zeal  found  expres 
sion  in  this,  "that  as  the  Lord  was  pleased  to  convert  Saul 
while  he  was  persecuting,  so  he  might  manifest  himself  to 
him  while  making  a  moderate  use  of  the  good  creature  to 
bacco;  professing  withal  that  he  knew  not  wherin  he  had  de 
served  the  censure  of  the  court."  Reproved  by  the  elders  for 
making  this  inconsiderate  speech,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cotton  told 
him  "that  though  God  often  laid  a  man  under  a  spirit  of 
bondage  while  walking  in  sin,  as  was  the  case  with  Paul,  yet 
he  never  sent  a  spirit  of  comfort,  but  in  an  ordinance,  as  he 
did  to  Paul  by  the  ministry  of  Ananias;  and  therefore  ex 
horted  him  to  examine  carefully  the  revelation  and  joy  to 
which  he  pretended."  That  same  week  he  was  privately 
dealt  with  on  suspicion  of  adultery,  which  he  disregarded; 
and  being  questioned  before  the  church  the  following  Sab 
bath,  he  was  only  admonished,  as  the  evidence  was  not  con 
sidered  sufficient  to  warrant  a  conviction.  Underbill,  after 

[258] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

The  next  day,  Sunday,  was  conscientiously  ob 
served  by  their  remaining  on  their  vessel.  On  Mon 
day,  by  reason  of  a  stiff  northwest  gale  which  con 
tinued  through  the  entire  day,  they  were  unable  to 

this,  betook  himself  from  under  Winthrop's  jurisdiction,  going 
to  Dover,  where  he  assumed  the  governorship  of  New  Hamp 
shire  in  place  of  the  disreputable  George  Burdett,  who,  on 
Sept.  8, 1640,  was  indicted  by  the  General  Court  of  Agamen- 
ticus  for  some  acts  of  incontinency  with  one  Mary  Pudding- 
ton,  and  as  well  for  "Deflowering  Ruth,  wife  of  John  Gouch 
of  Agamenticus,"  for  which  he  was  fined  twenty  pounds 
(Sylvester,  Old  York,  pp.  98,  99).  After  a  varied  career  in 
New  Hampshire,  Underbill  obtained  permission  to  return  to 
Boston,  where,  during  a  session  of  the  court,  he  made  a  full 
confession  of  his  shortcomings,  declaring  "that  his  pretended 
assurance  had  failed  him  and  that  the  terror  of  his  mind  had  at 
some  times  been  so  great,  that  he  had  drawn  his  sword  to  put 
an  end  to  his  life."  He  was  sentenced  to  sit  on  the  stool  of 
repentance  in  the  church,  a  white  cap  on  his  head,  and  in  his 
predicament  make  a  public  confession  of  his  sins.  After  this 
he  was  placed  upon  a  probation  of  six  months,  and  finally 
restored  to  full  communion.  He  was  released  and  his  punish 
ment  for  confessed  adultery  was  remitted  by  the  court,  for 
the  reason  that  the  law  which  made  such  a  capital  crime, 
having  been  enacted  after  the  crime  was  committed,  did  not 
apply  to  him.  After  this  he  entered  the  employ  of  the  Dutch 
governor  of  Manhattan,  who  gave  him  command  of  a  com 
pany  of  one  hundred  twenty  men.  He  made  himself  very  use 
ful  in  the  wars  between  the  Dutch  and  the  Indians,  continuing 
in  their  service  during  the  remainder  of  his  life.  Wood  says 
that  Underbill  settled  at  Stamford,  Conn.,  and  was  a  delegate 
from  that  town  to  the  New  Haven  Court  in  1643;  when  he 
was  appointed  Assistant  Justice  for  that  colony.  From  1643 

[259] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

embark.  On  Tuesday  it  was  the  same  until  just 
before  sundown,  when  they  succeeded  in  making  a 
landing  and  took  up  their  march  towards  the  head 
quarters  of  Canonicus.  Here  they  held  an  inter 
view  with  the  sachem,  in  which  they  informed  him 
of  their  purpose,  which  was  to  attack  the  Pequods 
in  their  fastnesses.  Mason  requested  a  passage 
through  the  Narragansett  country.  He  was  an 
swered  by  Miantonomoh,  who  expressed  himself  as 

to  1646  he  had  command  of  the  Dutch  forces  against  the 
Indians.  After  the  battle  of  Strickland's  Plain,  in  which  he 
obtained  rather  a  difficult  victory,  he  settled  at  Flushing, 
Long  Island.  He  was  also,  in  1665,  a  delegate  from  Oyster- 
Bay  to  the  Assembly  convened  at  Hempstead  by  Governor 
Nicolls,  by  whom  he  was  appointed  under-sheriff  to  the  North 
Riding,  of  Yorkshire  or  Queen's  County.  He  is  supposed  to 
have  died  at  Oyster-Bay  in  1672.  He  was  a  singular  man  and 
a  natural  product  of  the  times  in  which  he  lived,  and  not 
altogether  unlike  many  of  his  contemporaries  of  the  early 
settlements. 

History  of  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  Company. 

Pierce,  Indian  History,  p.  32,  note. 

Belknap's  History  of  New  Hampshire,  pp.  23-27. 

Hubbard,  in  his  History  of  New  England,  p.  365,  says  that 
"in  Sept.,  1641,  Captain  Underbill  not  able  longer  to  subsist 
at  Pascataqua  upon  the  occasions  fore-mentioned,  and  being 
recalled  to  the  court  of  Massachusetts,  and  Church  of  Boston, 
returned  thither  with  his  family  to  seek  some  way  of  subsist 
ence,  where,  having  no  employment  that  would  maintain 
him,  and  having  good  offers  by  the  Dutch  governor,  he  speak 
ing  the  Dutch  tongue  freely,  (and  his  wife  a  Dutch  woman,) 
he  removed  thither." 

[260] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

being  very  much  pleased  at  the  coming  of  the  Eng 
lish.  He  acknowledged  that  their  purpose  was  a 
good  one,  and  had  his  approval;  but  it  must  be 
realized  that  the  Pequods  were  very  skilful  in  war, 
that  they  had  many  great  sachems;  and  as  he  looked 
over  Mason's  little  army  he  was  doubtful  of  their 
success,  because  the  Pequods  were  so  many  and  the 
white  soldiers  were  so  few.  He  allowed  the  English 
to  pass  through  the  country  of  the  Narragansetts, 
but  seemed  somewhat  coldly  inclined,  as  neither 
he  nor  his  people  made  any  proffer  of  assistance. 
While  encamped  here,  a  letter  from  Captain  Pat 
rick  was  brought  him  by  an  Indian  runner.  Patrick 
had  come  as  far  as  Providence,  which  was  the  settle 
ment  of  Roger  Williams.1  In  the  letter  he  desired 
Mason  to  halt  where  he  was  until  he  should  come 
up  with  him;  and  while  Mason  was  anxious  to 

1  Roger  Williams  resided  at  Plymouth  some  three  years, 
where  he  preached  the  Gospel,  going  there  in  1631.  From 
Plymouth  he  went  to  Rhode  Island,  where  he  began  a  settle 
ment  of  that  colony.  He  had  been  liberally  educated,  and 
was  for  a  time  a  pupil  of  Sir  Edward  Coke.  He  was  a  man  of 
brilliant  talent  and  great  acquirements.  In  matters  of  religion 
he  was  at  first  considered  eccentric.  Later,  he  was  charged 
with  promulgating  unsound  doctrine,  by  reason  of  which  he 
became  especially  odious  to  the  Puritans,  when  he  was  dis 
missed  from  his  office  of  religious  teacher.  He  was  a  man  of 
broad  gauge  for  his  time,  and  of  larger  intellectual  gifts  than 
either  of  the  Mathers,  though  not  gifted  with  their  credulous 
verbosities.  He  possessed  the  courage  of  his  convictions; 
and  likewise  that  rare  diplomacy  of  kindness  and  gentleness 

[261] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

have  under  his  command  as  large  a  force  as  could 
be  obtained,  appreciating  the  advantage  of  the 
addition  of  Patrick's  forces  to  his  own,  he  called  a 
council  of  war,  which  decided  that  it  was  not  profit 
able  to  them  to  delay  longer.  The  soldiers  were 
anxious  to  go  on,  as  they  had  been  away  from  home 
two  weeks,  and  the  planting  season  was  coming  on; 
for  which  reason  they  were  anxious  to  make  quick 

toward  others  that  appealed  even  to  the  hearts  of  the  savage 
Narragansetts. 

He  openly  avowed  and  strenuously  maintained  "that  an 
universal  liberty  of  conscience  ought  to  be  allowed  in  all  relig 
ious  matters."  The  integrity  of  this  proposition  was  recog 
nized  by  being  made  a  part  of  the  Constitution  of  the  thirteen 
colonies  when  they  became  a  confederacy.  He  was  the  prophet 
of  his  time,  possessing  a  spiritual  outlook  which  was  as  in 
comprehensible  to  the  Puritans  as  the  wonders  of  witchcraft, 
which  left  an  indelible  stain  upon  their  little  commonwealth 
sixty  years  later,  and  offers  not  a  single  extenuating  cir 
cumstance. 

Thacher,  History  of  Plymouth,  p.  266. 

Williams  was  forbidden  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts, 
and  what  was  apparently  a  grievous  misfortune  proved  other 
wise.  Rhode  Island  became  a  home,  a  place  of  refuge,  "for 
all  sorts  of  consciences."  Winthrop  always  fell  back  on  his 
charter  as  a  vindication  of  all  his  civil  and  religious  restric 
tions.  The  son  of  a  lawyer,  and  bred  as  a  lawyer  himself,  as 
the  master-spirit  of  the  Bay  Company  his  interpretations  of 
his  authority  were  doubtless  sound. 

Barry  says:  "Dignified,  yet  unassuming;  learned,  yet  no 
pedant;  sagacious,  yet  not  crafty;  benevolent  in  his  impulses; 
ardent  in  his  affections;  attractive  in  his  manners;  mildly 

[262] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

work  of  this  business.  They  also  urged  that  further 
delay  might  make  their  designs  known  to  the  enemy, 
inasmuch  as  they  realized  that  the  Pequods  had 
many  friends  among  the  Narragansetts,  by  whom 
the  information  might  be  transmitted.  His  allies, 
as  well,  were  getting  uneasy.  Those  savages  who 
had  deserted,  as  well  as  some  of  the  others  who  were 
desirous  to  desert,  sneered  at  Mason  and  his  little 
company,  saying  that  while  the  English  did  a  great 
deal  of  talking  and  less  fighting,  it  was  apparent 
their  courage  was  not  sufficient  to  take  them  into 
the  country  of  Sassacus.  Appreciating  the  serious 
ness  of  the  situation,  Mason  made  answer  by  im 
mediate  preparations  for  an  advance  into  the  Pe- 
quod  country. 

The  following  morning  a  sloop  sailed  away  for 
the  mouth  of  the  Pequod  River,  carrying  thirteen 
whites  and  a  small  party  of  Indians.  The  party  to 
go  overland  was  made  up  of  seventy-seven  English, 
and  about  sixty  savages,  under  Uncas.  They 
started  westward  through  the  wilderness.  They 

conservative,  and  moderately  ambitious  —  he  was  the  man 
for  the  colony,  every  way  elaborated  and  perfected  for  its 
purposes." 

Barry,  History  of  Massachusetts,  p.  184. 

Vide  Belknap,  American  Biography;  Moore's  Governors  of 
Massachusetts. 

Winthrop's  History  (Journal);  Eliot's  and  Allen's  Bio 
graphical  Dictionary. 

Ellis,  Memorial  History  of  Boston,  vol.  i.,  pp.  174,  176. 

[263] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

came  into  a  road1  which  seemed  to  be  one  of  the 
highways  of  the  Pequods.  It  was  rough  and  ar 
duous;  but,  making  their  way  over  the  stones  and 
fallen  trees,  they  finally  came  to  Nehantic.  They 
had  traversed  some  eighteen  or  twenty  miles.  Here 
at  Nehantic  was  a  fort  and  palisadoes,  which  had 
been  erected  as  a  barrier  against  the  Pequods.  This 
was  occupied  by  one  of  the  Narragansett  sachems, 
who  was  called  a  noted  character  among  the  sav 
ages,  and  who  was  best  known  to  the  English  as 
Ninigret.2  As  they  continued  their  march,  the 
Narragansett  savages  joined  them,  from  time  to 
time,  until  upon  their  arrival  at  Nehantic  there 


lfThe  savages  had  their  cross-country  thoroughfares,  or 
trails,  which  were  well  marked  and  distinct,  and  which  ex 
tended  from  Florida  to  New  Brunswick.  It  was  by  following 
these  that  Ingram  made  his  way  north  to  the  St.  John  River, 
where  he  found  a  French  vessel  by  which  he  was  able  to 
reach  England.  This  was  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  Ingram  had  been  marooned  by  the  buccaneer 
Hawkins  at  Pamlico,  on  the  Florida  coast,  along  with  a  hun 
dred  other  unfortunates.  Ingram  found  considerable  villages 
along  these  trails.  It  was  over  the  Algonquin  trails  the  earliest 
Jesuits  found  their  way  into  the  villages  of  the  Abenake.  Some 
of  the  old  Indian  trails  are  marked  by  the  more  ancient  high 
ways  among  the  shore  counties  in  Maine,  and  notably  in  that 
part  of  the  country  watered  by  the  tributaries  of  the  Saga- 
dahoc.  See  Ingram's  curious  Relation  of  his  travels  to  the 
city  of  the  Bashaba  on  the  Penobscot. 

Sylvester,  Maine  Pioneer  Settlements,  vol.  v.,  pp.  73,  78. 

2  Ninigret  was  the  chief  of  the  Nehantics,  whose  habitat  was 
[264] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

were  fully  two  hundred  Narragansetts  in  the  party. 
Mason  noted  that  the  Nehantics  were  suspicious, 
and  refused  to  allow  the  English  to  enter  the  fort, 
which  aroused  Mason's  anger.  Doubting  their  in 
tegrity,  and  regarding  their  attitude  as  hostile,  he 
was  suspicious  of  them,  and  to  prevent  them  from 
sending  any  notice  to  the  Pequods  of  his  approach 
he  sent  a  message  to  the  sachem,  "Since  none  of  us 
may  come  in,  none  of  you  shall  go  out,"  upon 
which  he  posted  sentinels  by  which  they  were  kept 
securely  within  the  fort  until  the  following  morning.1 
While  they  were  there  at  Nehantic  their  number 
was  being  continuously  increased  by  the  arrival  of 
other  Narragansetts,  by  reason  of  which  many  of 
the  Nehantics  were  induced  to  join  them.  On  this 

at  Wekapaug,  now  Westerly,  R.  I.  He  was  of  the  Narragan 
setts.  Janemo  was  the  first  name  by  which  he  was  known  to 
the  English.  He  was  a  cousin  to  Miantonomoh.  The  story 
of  Ninigret  begins  with  the  death  of  Miantonomoh.  In  his 
dealings  with  the  English  he  was  always  on  the  delinquent 
list.  He  never  kept  his  agreements  with  them,  unless  he  was 
actually  forced  to  do  so.  He  was  proud,  self-seeking,  and 
always  went  about  with  a  chip  on  his  shoulder. 

Prince,  Chronology,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  7,  10. 

Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  67. 

On  the  division  of  the  captive  Pequots,  1637,  Ninigret  was 
to  have  twenty,  "when  he  should  satisfy  for  a  mare  of  Eltweed 
[Eltwood]  Pomroye's  killed  by  his  [Ninigret's]  men." 

Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  83. 

*Hubbard,  Indian  Wars,  p.  23. 
Mason's  Account. 

[265] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

occasion  they  engaged  in  a  war-dance,  making  a 
great  noise,  shouting  their  courage,  and  protesting 
how  they  alone,  without  the  assistance  of  the  Eng 
lish,  would  destroy  the  Pequods.1 

The  following  morning  the  English  again  took  up 
their  march,  estimating  the  number  of  their  savage 
allies  at  five  hundred.  It  was  one  of  those  spring 
days  to  which  the  sun  brings  an  excessive  warmth, 
and  as  they  toiled  over  the  country  and  through  the 
woods,  want  of  food,  the  heat  of  the  day,  and  the 
fatigue  of  the  march  so  affected  several  of  the  Eng 
lish  that  they  found  it  difficult  to  keep  up  with  the 
main  body.  A  march  of  some  twelve  miles  brought 
the  English  to  the  Paucatuck  River.  Here  they 
came  upon  a  fording-place  where,  as  the  Narra- 
gansetts  said,  was  a  favorite  fishing-place  of  the 
Pequods.  The  savages  discovered  signs  of  the 
Pequods  having  been  here  a  little  before,  and  from 
the  remains  of  fish  which  had  been  recently  dressed 
they  informed  Mason  that  undoubtedly  the  Pe 
quods  were  holding  a  great  festival  at  their  fortress.2 

Mason  halted  his  little  army  by  the  stream, 
where  the  men  refreshed  themselves  with  what  food 
they  had  and  a  short  interregnum  of  restfulness. 
It  was  here  the  savage  allies  betrayed  their  fear  of 
the  Pequods.  This  little  stream  was  the  Rubicon, 

lMass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xviii.,  p.  136. 
2 Johnson,  Wonder-working  Providence. 
Mass.  Hist.  Co/L,  vol.  xxiv.,  p.  47. 

[266] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

upon  the  other  side  of  which  were  the  savages  who 
had  always  held  them  in  the  bondage  of  fear.  Here 
their  boasts  of  courage  of  the  night  before  were 
forgotten;  and  it  was  here  the  disintegration  process 
began  among  the  allies.  Mason,  disturbed  by  the 
attitude  of  these  children  of  the  woods,  had  a  con 
ference  with  Uncas,  of  whom  he  asked  what  he 
thought  the  Indians  were  likely  to  do.  It  may  be 
recalled  here  that  Uncas  was  a  Pequod,  and  was  re 
garded  by  the  Pequods  as  a  renegade;  he  had  been 
practically  outlawed  by  them.  Uncas  replied  to 
Mason,  "The  Narragansetts  will  all  leave  you,  but 
as  for  myself,  I  will  never  leave  you;"  and  in 
Mason's  account  of  this  war  one  finds  this:  "For 
which  expression  and  some  other  speeches  of  his 
[Uncas],  I  shall  never  forget  him,  indeed  he  was  a 
great  friend  and  did  us  great  service." 1  Fording  the 
Paucatuck,  Mason  pushed  on  with  his  little  force 
for  some  three  miles,  until  he  came  to  an  open 
ground  which  the  Pequods  had  lately  planted  with 
Indian  corn.  He  was  so  near  the  enemy  that  he  or 
dered  a  halt  and  called  a  council,  into  which  some 
of  the  Indians  were  brought,  who  stated  that  the 
Pequods  had  two  large  forts  in  the  neighborhood. 
One  was  in  the  immediate  neighborhood;  but  the 
other  might  be  several  hours  distant.  It  was  at  the 
latter  that  Sassacus  had  his  residence. 

1  Mason's  Account. 
Mass.  Hist.  Coll,  vol.  xviii.,  pp.  136,  137. 

[267] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

The  original  design  was  to  make  a  simultaneous 
attack  on  both  these  places;  but  the  idea  had  to 
be  abandoned.  Taking  up  their  march  again,  they 
made  toward  the  nearest  fort.  Up  to  this  time  the 
savage  allies  had  been  in  the  lead;  but  now  it  be 
came  incumbent  upon  the  English  to  take  the  van 
of  the  movement.  The  Indians  dropped  back  to 
the  rear,  where  they  took  occasion  to  desert  by 
scores,  and  to  put  the  Paucatuck  between  them  and 
the  Pequods.  It  was  about  an  hour  after  night-fall. 
The  English  found  themselves  upon  the  edge  of  a 
swamp  between  two  hills,  and  it  was  here  they 
camped  for  the  night,  with  the  knowledge  that  the 
fort  was  close  by.  The  place  of  this  encampment  is 
still  pointed  out,  and  is  marked  by  two  curiously- 
shaped  boulders  which  are  known  as  "Porter's 
Rocks."  Their  location  is  about  two  miles  north 
east  of  the  site  of  the  old  Pequod  fort.  It  is  also  a 
half-mile  north  of  what  is  locally  known  as  "the 
Head  of  the  Mystic."1  The  night  was  star-lit  and 
cool,  and  the  landscape  was  made  luminous  by  the 
moon.  While  the  English  and  their  savage  allies 
slept  on  the  ground  without  covering,  their  sentinels 
paced  to  and  fro,  their  feet  keeping  time  to  the 
shouts  and  songs  of  the  Pequods  in  their  revelry, 
which  were  carried  far  over  the  rough  woods 
through  the  silence  of  the  night.  The  Pequods  were 
holding  a  festival  of  gladness.  They  had  seen  the 

1  DeForest,  History  of  the  Indians  of  Connecticut,  p.  128. 
[268] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

English  vessels  pass,  apparently  without  purpose  of 
making  a  landing  in  the  Pequod  country,  which 
convinced  the  latter  that  the  white  men  were  afraid 
of  them.  This  fort  near-by  had  been  reenforced  by 
Sassacus;  so  the  Pequods,  elated  by  their  escape 
from  what  to  them  might  prove  a  serious  conflict, 
were  recounting  their  successes  in  war,  filling  the 
time  with  feasting  and  rejoicing,  for  on  the  next  day 
they  were  to  go  out  against  the  English.  This 
revelry  was  kept  up  until  late  into  the  night,  but  at 
last,  sunk  in  sleep,  the  fort  of  the  Pequods  was  as 
silent  as  was  the  camp  of  the  English. 

At  daybreak1  —  it  was  Friday,  the  fifth  of  June, 
1637  —  the  English  were  up  and  making  their  prep 
arations  to  proceed  against  the  Pequods.  Through 
the  chaplain  they  commended  themselves  to  the 
care  of  their  Creator,  and  invoked  his  blessing  upon 
their  enterprise.  They  followed  an  Indian  path  for 
some  two  miles  without  discovering  the  fort  or  any 
thing  which  might  suggest  it.  Mason  halted  his 
troop  at  the  foot  of  a  hill,  and  whispered  word  was 
sent  back  to  the  savages  for  some  of  them  to  come 
forward.  This  request  was  answered  by  two  savages, 

1  Mason's  account  has  it :  "  About  two  Hours  before  Day  we 
marched  toward  the  Fort  .  .  .  about  Break  of  Day  we  came 
Fair  in  view  of  the  Fort  standing  on  the  Top  of  an  Hill." 

Indian  Wars,  p.  25. 

Barry  makes  the  date  May  26,  1637,  which  is  probably  cor 
rect  reckoning,  O.  S. 

History  of  Massachusetts,  p.  225. 

[269] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

Dncas  and  Wequash.1  Mason  made  a  sign  with  his 
hand,  a  mute  inquiry,  "Where  is  the  fort?"  The 
two  savages  replied,  "On  the  top  of  the  hill."  Ma 
son's  next  inquiry  was,  "Where  are  the  rest  of  the 
Narragansetts  ? "  to  which  Uncas  replied,  "In  the 
rear,  very  much  afraid."  Mason  sent  Uncas  back 
to  them  to  assure  them,  telling  them  not  to  flee,  but 
to  stand  behind  at  what  distance  they  pleased,  and 
"see  now  whether  Englishmen  will  fight."  At  this 
time  the  English  were  on  the  western  side  of  the 
hill.  Mason  sent  Underbill  with  a  few  men  around 
to  the  southern  slope.  Underbill  was  to  take  the 
fort  on  that  side.  Mason,  when  Underbill  was  well 
away,  with  the  remainder  of  his  force,  started 
directly  toward  the  main  entrance. 

Wearied  with  their  dance  of  the  previous  eve 
ning,  the  Pequods  were  steeped  in  a  profound 
slumber.  Sunrise  was  reddening  the  east.  It  was 
that  time  in  the  day  when  one  sleeps  soundest;  and, 
if  one  recalls  the  tragedies  which  occurred  at  Sche- 
nectady,  Hadley,  Deerfield,  and  Dover,  it  will  be 
remembered  that  this,  with  the  Indian,  was  the 
favorite  moment  of  attack  upon  his  unsuspecting 

1  Wequash,  who  acted  as  a  guide  for  Mason  on  the  expedi 
tion  against  Fort  Mystic,  was  a  "renegade  Pequod."  In  that 
quaint  work,  New  England's  First  Fruits,  p.  5-7,  he  was 
made  a  "saint  of."  Hubbard  says  Roger  Williams  does  not 
give  him  a  favorable  character. 

Hubbard,  Indian  Wars,  p.  20. 

[270] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

enemy.  Mason  and  his  party  made  the  advance 
with  great  care  and  in  absolute  silence.  They  were 
undiscovered  until  they  were  able  almost  to  put 
their  hands  upon  the  palisades.  The  silence  was 
broken  by  the  sharp  bark  of  a  dog.  The  aroused 
Pequods  cried,  "Owanux!  Owanux!"  ["English! 
English ! "].  At  that,  Mason  pushed  his  men  forward, 
and,  after  pouring  a  volley  through  the  palisades, 
they  made  a  rush  for  the  entrance.  It  was  ob 
structed  with  bushes  and  boughs  of  trees.  While 
some  went  over  them,  others  pulled  them  out  of  the 
way  in  their  haste  to  follow.1  This  musket- volley 
was  answered  by  the  Pequods  with  loud  cries  of 
fear  and  astonishment;  and,  taken  by  surprise, 
most  of  them  remained  in  their  wigwams,  uncer 
tain  as  to  the  cause  of  this  attack.  It  was  the  mo 
ment  of  hesitation  which  was  fatal  to  the  Pequods. 
Mason  and  his  party  within  the  palisade  made 
their  way  into  the  main  passage  through  the  village, 
where  they  were  unable  to  discover  a  single  Indian. 
Forcing  his  way  into  one  of  the  wigwams,  he  was 
attacked  by  several  warriors,  who  attempted  to 
capture  him;  but  Mason  defended  himself  so  well 
that  he  killed  some  of  his  assailants  with  a  sword. 
A  soldier  by  the  name  of  William  Heydon  fol 
lowed  his  captain,  which  so  inspired  the  Indians 
with  fear  that  they  sought  every  possible  place  of 

1  Mason's  Account. 
Hubbard,  Indian  Wars,  p.  26. 

[271] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

concealment.1  A  few  minutes  later  the  English 
were  scattered  over  the  fort  and  a  desultory  battle 
on  a  small  scale  was  begun,  in  which  a  large  num 
ber  of  the  Pequods  were  slain  and  some  few  of  the 
English  were  wounded.  Mason  says  it  was  not  a 
part  of  the  original  plan  to  destroy  the  fort,  his  de 
sire  being  to  consummate  the  destruction  of  the 
Pequods  and  yet  save  their  property.  Mason  was 
convinced  that  this  was  an  impossibility.  The 
Pequods  thronged  the  wigwams,  from  which  they 
were  continuously  discharging  arrows,  and  some  of 
them,  English  muskets.  Some  of  his  men  were 
stricken  with  wounds;  others,  acting  without  orders, 
became  confused  in  the  melee,  and  were  uncertain 
what  to  do.  Finding  himself  wearied  with  his  own 
exertions,  he  gave  the  order  to  fire  the  fort.  In 
one  wigwam  he  discovered  a  fire,  and,  catching  up  a 
brand,  he  held  it  to  the  mats  with  which  the  wig 
wam  was  covered.2  In  a  moment,  as  it  were,  the 
northeast  wind  was  sweeping  the  flames  from  wig- 

l4<Then  we  suddenly  fell  upon  the  Wigwams,  The  Indians 
cryed  out  in  a  most  hideous  Manner,  some  issuing  from  their 
Wigwams,  shooting  at  us  desperately,  and  so  creeping  under 
beds  they  had." 

Mason's  Account. 

Hubbard,  Indian  Wars,  p.  26. 

2  "We  had  resolved  a  while  not  to  have  burned  it  [the  fort]: 
but  being  we  could  not  come  at  them,  I  then  resolved  to  set 
it  on  fire.  After  Divers  of  them  were  slain,  and  some  of  our 
Men  sore  wounded :  So  entering  one  of  their  wigwams,  I  took 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

warn  to  wigwam  and  the  entire  area  of  the  interior, 
which  covered  some  one  or  two  acres,  thickly 
studded  with  lodges,  was  obscured  in  a  holocaust 
of  fire  and  smoke. 

Underbill,  on  the  southern  side,  had  just  made 
his  entrance.  The  Pequods  had  rallied  there  for  a 
stout  resistance.  One  of  the  English  had  been 
killed,  and  Uncas  had  an  arrow  in  his  hip.  Real 
izing  that  the  village  was  to  be  destroyed  by  fire,  he 
kindled  it  still  further  by  using  powder,  falling  back 
from  the  heat.  Mason  had  followed  the  same  tac 
tics,  and  the  English,  under  the  common  leadership 
of  Mason,  formed  a  circle  about  the  blazing  lodges 
with  their  allies  behind  them.  Within  the  circle, 
the  Pequods,  men,  women,  and  children,  were  be 
ing  mowed  down  by  the  musketry  of  the  English, 
and  at  the  same  time  were  being  roasted  in  the  fire 
of  their  own  wigwams.1  The  war-whoop  of  the 
Pequods  and  the  cries  of  the  women  and  children 
were  mingled  with  the  exultations  of  the  Mohegans 

a  Fire-brand  at  which  Time  an  Indian  drawing  an  arrow  had 
killed  him  [Mason]  but  one  Davis  his  sargeant  cut  the  Bow 
string  with  his  Courtlace  [cutlass],  and  suddenly  kindled  a 
Fire  in  the  Mats  wherewith  they  were  covered,  and  fell  to  a 
Retreat,  and  surrounded  the  Fort." 

Mason's  Account. 

Hubbard,  Indian  Wars,  p.  27. 

"Of  those  who  escaped  the  fire,  some  were  slain  by  the 
sword  and  hewn  to  pieces,  or  run  through  by  rapiers.  It  was 
a  fearful  sight  to  see  them  frying  in  the  fire,  streams  of  blood 

[273] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

and  Narragansetts.  The  Pequods  fought  until  their 
bow-strings  were  rendered  useless  by  the  heat  of 
the  fire.  Some  made  no  attempt  to  escape,  while 
others  rushed  headlong  into  the  flames  in  their  ter 
ror.  A  small  body  of  Pequods  without  the  fortress, 
on  the  northward,  shot  their  arrows  at  the  English, 
until  they,  too,  were  vanquished  by  the  muskets. 
A  little  party  of  forty  of  the  boldest  Pequods  made  a 
sally  and  forced  their  way  through  the  English, 
hoping  to  make  the  neighboring  woods.  A  few  were 
successful;  the  others  mostly  were  killed  by  the 
English  or  by  their  allies.  The  larger  part  of  the 
Pequods  lost  their  lives  in  the  fort;  and  so  rapidly 
had  the  fire  swept  over  this  little  area  that  hardly  an 
hour  had  elapsed  before  the  destruction  of  this 
settlement  had  been  completed.1 

In  this  brief  fight  one  realizes  the  terrible  ven- 


quenching  the  same ;  and  horrible  was  the  stench  thereof.  But 
the  victory  seemed  a  sweet  sacrifice,  and  the  people  gave 
the  praise  to  God." 

Vide  note,  Morton. 

Freeman,  Civilization  and  Barbarism,  p.  61. 

Also,  ibid,  a  quotation  from  the  "learned  and  pious  Rev. 
Cotton  Mather:"  "Many  of  them  were  broiled  unto  death  in 
the  avenging  flames;  many  climbing  to  the  tops  of  the  pali 
sades,  were  a  fair  mark  for  mortiferous  bullets;  and  many  who 
had  the  resolution  to  issue  forth  were  slain  by  the  English 
who  stood  ready  to  bid  them  welcome." 

1  DeForest,  History  of  Connecticut,  p.  133. 
According  to  Mason,  there  were  killed  of  the  Pequods 
[274] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

geance  the  English  had  taken  upon  the  Pequods, 
when  only  seven  were  made  captive,  while  perhaps 
as  many  more  made  their  escape  to  the  woods. 
Mason  lost  two  of  his  party,  killed  outright;  twenty 
were  wounded.  Mason  was  saved  by  his  helmet; 
Lieutenant  Bull,  by  a  hard  piece  of  cheese  which 
he  carried  in  his  pocket,  by  which  the  fatal  arrow 
was  stopped;  while  two  other  men  were  saved  by 
the  hard  knot  in  their  neckcloths. 

While  Mason  had  been  victorious  in  his  assault, 
he  was  yet  in  a  dangerous  situation.  His  soldiers 
were  worn  out  by  fatigue,  loss  of  sleep,  and  the 
exertion  of  fighting;  while  four  or  five,  by  reason 
of  their  wounds,  had  to  be  carried  by  their  com 
panions.1  Not  over  forty  men  were  fit  for  active 
service.  Some  of  the  Indians  were  wounded.  The 
Narragansetts,  upon  discovering  that  the  English 
were  going  to  the  west,  turned  their  faces  towards 
their  own  country.  Mason  scanned  the  waters  of 
the  Sound  for  his  vessels,  which  were  nowhere 

"  about  four  hundred/'  Seven  were  made  prisoners.  " Seven, 
at  the  utmost,  escaped." 

Vide  the  narratives  of  Mason,  Underbill,  Vincent,  and 
Gardiner  in  the  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  and  compare  accounts  of 
Winthrop,  Hutchinson,  and  Trumbull. 

The  campaign  had  consumed  less  than  three  weeks,  once 
the  English  left  Saybrook,  and  the  English  loss  was  less 
than  twenty-five  killed  and  wounded. 

Trumbull,  Indian  Wars,  p.  56. 

"Four  or  five  of  our  men  were  so  wounded  that  they  must 
[275] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

to  be  seen,  and  for  that  reason  he  was  uncertain 
whither  to  direct  his  march.  Within  an  hour  or  so 
they  discovered  their  little  fleet  sweeping  into  the 
Pequod  River  under  a  spanking  breeze;  but  this 
satisfaction  was  not  to  last,  for  almost  at  the 
moment  of  his  discovery  of  the  wished-for  assist 
ance  a  considerable  body  of  Pequods  were  ap 
proaching  them  from  the  west.  Mason  estimated 
their  number  to  be  about  three  hundred.  These 
were  the  Pequods  from  the  fort  where  Sassacus  had 
his  residence,  being  attracted  hither  by  the  noise 
of  the  guns.  Furious  at  this  invasion  of  their  ter 
ritory,  there  was  no  limit  to  their  rage  or  desire 
for  vengeance,  and,  filling  the  air  with  war-whoops, 
they  swept  down  upon  the  English — only  to  be  ab 
ruptly  checked  by  two  files  of  soldiers,  numbering 
not  more  than  fourteen  men.  These  latter  were 
able  to  cover  the  retreat  of  Mason  and  his  party, 
who  took  up  their  march  towards  the  mouth  of  the 
Thames.  They  were  followed  by  the  savages  until 

be  carried,  with  the  Anns  of  twenty  more.  We  also  being 
faint,  were  constrained  to  put  four  to  one  Man,  with  the  Arms 
of  the  rest  that  were  wounded  to  others:  So  that  we  had  not 
above  forty  Men  free.  At  length  we  hired  several  Indians, 
who  eased  us  of  that  Burthen  in  carrying  our  wounded 
Men." 

Mason,  Account. 

Vide  Captain  Stoughton's  Letter  in  the  Appendix  to 
Mather's  Relation,  p.  286. 

[276] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

they  came  to  the  site  of  the  fort  which  Mason  had 
just  destroyed,  where  they  discovered,  in  the  place 
of  seventy  wigwams  surrounded  by  a  stout  palisade, 
only  the  smoking  ruins  and  the  dead  bodies  of  their 
relatives  and  friends.  The  Indian  had  been  called 
the  stoic  of  the  wilderness;  but  the  Pequods, 
stunned  by  the  blow  for  a  little  time,  indulged  in  all 
the  agony  of  grief  and  rage;1  and  then,  with  a  sharp 
cry  of  vengeance,  they  came  down  the  hill  as  if 
they  would  overwhelm  the  English,  only  to  be 
stopped  again  by  the  muskets.  At  the  foot  of  this 
hill  was  a  brook,  where  Mason  halted  his  party  for 
a  short  rest,  the  Pequods  keeping  at  a  safe  distance, 
their  purpose  evidently  more  to  watch  their  enemy 
than  to  attack  them.  It  was  at  this  point  that  the 
Mohegans  and  the  Narragansetts  got  their  courage 
up  to  the  pitch  so  that  they  began  to  engage  with 
the  Pequods.  Underbill  describes  their  manner  of 


1  Mather  says  of  the  Indians  who  came  up  from  Sassacus's 
fort:  "They  were  like  bears  bereft  of  their  whelps,  and  con 
tinued  a  bloody  fight.  When  they  came  to  see  the  ashes  of 
their  friends  at  the  fort,  and  the  bodies  of  their  men  horribly 
barbecued,  where  the  English  had  been  doing  a  good  morning's 
work  [the  annotator  has  taken  the  liberty  to  italicize  the 
original  text],  they  howled,  they  roared,  they  stamped,  they 
tore  their  hair,  and  (though  they  did  not  swear,  for  they  knew 
not  how  yet,)  they  cursed  and  were  pictures  of  so  many  devils 
in  desperation." 

Freeman,  Civilization  and  Barbarism,  p.  62,  note. 

[277] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

fighting,  in  which  he  comes  to  the  conclusion  that 
in  seven  years  they  would  not  kill  seven  men.1 

Mason,  in  describing  this  fight  between  the 
Pequods  and  the  Narragansetts,  said  they  stood  at 
a  distance  from  each  other  and  aimed  their  arrows 
at  an  elevation.  After  letting  the  arrow  fly,  they 
watched  its  course  deliberately;  and  it  was  their 
habit  never  to  shoot  a  second  until  they  saw  the 
effect  of  the  first.2  Mason  was  still  on  the  retreat, 
all  the  time  getting  nearer  that  point  of  the  shore 
which  was  likely  to  be  most  adjacent  to  the  vessels 
which  were  coming  to  his  assistance.  He  had  ac 
complished  his  errand,  and  for  the  present  was 
satisfied  with  the  result.  The  fighting  on  the  part 
of  the  savages  was  of  the  most  desultory  descrip 
tion.  At  this  time  some  fifty  of  the  Narragansetts, 
taking  advantage  of  what  they  thought  was  a  most 
excellent  opportunity  to  return  to  their  own  coun 
try,  detached  themselves  from  their  allies.  They 
were  discovered  by  the  Pequods,  by  whom  they 
were  pursued  and  surrounded.  It  was  apparently 
the  turn  of  the  Pequod  to  satisfy  his  vengeance,  be 
ing  about  to  take  a  bloody  revenge  for  the  destruc 
tion  of  the  Mystic  fort.  When  those  Narragansetts 
who  remained  with  Mason  discovered  the  dilemma 
in  which  their  comrades  were,  they  begged  Mason 
and  his  officers  to  go  to  their  assistance.  Mason 

1  Underbill,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xxxvi.,  pp.  25,  26. 
2 Mason,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xviii.,  pp.  141,  142. 
[278] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

upbraided  them  for  what  he  called  a  desertion ;  yet, 
being  unwilling  to  have  the  Pequods  triumph  over 
any  portion  of  his  forces,  he  sent  Underbill  with 
thirty  men  to  their  rescue.  The  chroniclers  of 
these  events  set  Underbill  down  as  a  braggart  of 
considerable  dimensions. 

Underbill's  story  is  that  the  conflict  with  these 
Pequods  lasted  an  hour,  with  the  final  result  that 
the  Pequods  were  driven  off  with  a  loss  of  one  hun 
dred  or  more  killed  or  wounded.1  Vincent  records 
this  episode,  and  DeForest  intimates  the  former 
seemed  to  have  a  spite  against  Underbill.  Vincent 
describes  Underbill  as  a  poltroon,  and  goes  on  to 
say  that  "after  the  discharge  of  five  muskets,  the 
Pequods  took  to  their  heels."  Underbill  says  — 
and  his  statement  seems  perfectly  reasonable  —  that 
the  Indians  were  very  much  astonished  at  the  Eng 
lish  manner  of  fighting.  They  called  it  "matchit," 
or  evil.  As  a  method  of  fighting,  for  the  Pequods, 
it  was  altogether  too  fast  and  furious,  and,  as  well, 
too  destructible.  The  fashion  of  fighting  among  the 
savages  was  to  obtain  the  advantage  of  an  enemy 
by  strategy,  skulking,  or  surprise.  The  savage 
never  fought  in  the  open,  unless  he  was  possessed 


*Hubbard  notes,  in  his  Indian  Wars,  p.  15,  that  Capt.  John 
Underbill  "published  a  most  interesting  History  of  the  Ex 
pedition  of  General  Endicot,  which  like  Gardener's  has  been 
reprinted.  It  carries  evidence  of  Truthfulness  with  it,  as  well 
as  the  Quaintness  of  an  Old  Soldier  of  that  Day." 

[279] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

of  overpowering  numbers.  His  preference  was  the 
ambush.  In  the  early  years  of  the  settlements 
this  method  of  attack  on  the  part  of  the  savages 
was  not  taken  with  the  degree  of  seriousness  that 
it  deserved;  and  after  the  English  discovered  the 
practice  of  his  assailant  he  began  to  adopt  the 
same  tactics,  and  the  savage  then  saw  the  white 
man  was  no  less  wily  and  wary  than  himself.  Once 
the  English  settler  had  learned  the  lesson,  he  was 
the  superior  of  the  Indian  in  the  Indian's  method 
of  fighting. 

Mason  kept  to  his  retreat,  but  slowly,  sending  out 
skirmishers  in  advance,  prodding  every  thicket  and 
swamp,  and  firing  bullets  into  their  mystery  for  the 
purpose  of  dislodging  their  secret  enemy  should  any 
happen  to  be  lurking  in  ambush.  The  Pequods 
clung  to  the  rear  of  this  retreating  body,  and  from 
behind  rocks  and  trees,  and  such  other  shelter  as 
lay  in  their  path,  they  shot  showers  of  ineffectual 
arrows.  This  pursuit  was  kept  up  by  the  Pequods 
until  the  English  had  come  within  perhaps  two 
miles  of  the  ships,  when  the  former  congregated  in 
a  body,  and,  after  an  apparent  consultation,  were  lost 
to  sight  in  the  woods.  The  English  kept  to  their 
march  shoreward,  where  they  found  their  ships 
awaiting  them,  with  Captain  Patrick  and  forty 
men  on  board.  Patrick  did  not  reach  Narragansett 
until  after  Mason's  departure  overland.  He  found 
the  ships  and  decided  to  take  passage  on  them 
around  to  Pequod  Harbor.  Mason  says  his  men 

[280] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

would  have  joined  Patrick  on  the  vessels  at  once, 
had  it  not  been  for  the  objection  of  the  Narragan- 
setts  to  being  left  alone  in  the  country  of  the 
Pequods.  For  that  reason,  only  the  wounded  and 
thirty-five  or  forty  others  took  ship,  while  Mason, 
with  twenty  men,  and  Patrick,  with  his  forty, 
along  with  their  Indian  allies,  set  out  through  the 
woods  for  Saybrook.  On  the  line  of  their  march 
was  a  little  village  belonging  to  the  western  Ne- 
hantics,  the  dwellers  of  which,  suspicious  of  the 
purpose  of  the  English,  abandoned  their  village  to 
hide  in  an  adjacent  swamp.  The  English  followed 
them,  pushed  through  the  swamp,  and  drove  them 
out  on  the  opposite  side,  to  lose  them  among  the 
rolling  ground  or  hillocks  which  lay  beyond.  The 
savages  were  so  scattered  that  the  pursuit  was 
difficult;  so  the  English,  coming  together  again, 
took  up  their  march,  and  in  the  edge  of  dusk  they 
made  the  mouth  of  the  Connecticut.  Their  coming- 
being  made  known,  they  were  welcomed  with  a 
cannon  salute  from  the  fortress  on  the  opposite 
shore.1 

Thus  ended  a  long  and  arduous  day  for  Mason 
and  his  men.  A  famous  expedition,  as  well,  in 
which  the  Connecticut  settlers  had  been  pitted 
against  their  natural  enemy,  was  brought  to  a 
victorious  close.  It  was  an  expedition,  from  many 
points  of  view,  conducted  with  great  courage,  with 

1  Mason,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xviii.,  pp.  143,  144. 
[281] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

perhaps  more  good  luck  than  skill,  but  crowned 
with  a  most  satisfactory  success  to  the  Connecticut 
settlers.  It  was  hardly  more  than  a  massacre  and 
indiscriminate  killing  of  everything  animate  that 
had  resemblance  to  a  Pequod,  from  which  escape 
seemed  almost  impossible,  and  in  which  an  entire 
aboriginal  community  was  condemned  to  a  most 
horrible  method  of  destruction.1  It  was  nothing 
more  than  retaliation,  one  wild  beast  flying  at  the 
throat  of  another;  and  however  atrocious  the  cir 
cumstances  may  seem  at  this  present  time,  there  is 
no  question  but  what  there  were  extenuating  cir 
cumstances. 

Mason  has  been  severely  criticized  for  the  bar 
barous  manner  by  which  the  Pequods  were  wiped 

1  To  Endicott  and  Mason,  the  punishment  meted  out  to  the 
Pequods  was  that  merited  by  an  incorrigible  malefactor  who 
defied  all  human  law  and  restraint;  whose  bloodthirsty  cruelty, 
subtlety,  and  treachery  had  as  well  placed  him  in  the  category 
of  beasts  of  prey.  Of  all  the  New  England  savages  of  which 
history  has  made  record,  the  Pequod  was  the  acme  of  devilish 
ingenuity  and  Satanic  perfection.  That  the  intolerant  Puritan 
found  in  the  extinction  of  this  race  a  vent  for  his  vindictive- 
ness,  natural  or  accumulate,  is  evidenced  by  the  thoroughness 
with  which  he  followed  up  these  homeless  fugitives,  putting 
them  to  the  slaughter  with  as  slight  compunction  as  he  would 
have  shot  the  wildcat  that  preyed  upon  his  sheepfold;  or  sell 
ing  their  helpless  women  and  children  into  a  slavery  worse 
than  death.  Assuredly  the  Puritan  should  be  handled  ten 
derly,  unless  one  is  content  to  stir  up  more  ghosts  than  ever 
walked  Bosworth  Field. 

[282] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

out  of  existence  in  this  particular  place;  but  Mason 
was  a  soldier,  with  a  soldier's  conscience,  and,  once 
he  had  put  his  hand  to  the  plow,  with  him  there  was 
no  turning  back.  It  was,  without  question,  an  act 
of  great  cruelty,  especially  in  the  putting  of  the 
women  and  children  to  the  slaughter;  yet  the  prov 
ocation  was  great,  and,  to  Mason,  the  necessity 
was  imperative.  The  Pequods  had  no  right  to  ask 
for  quarter.  They  had  no  argument  to  make  as  to 
the  violation  of  any  particular  rule  of  humanity. 
They  had  set  the  pace  with  Oldham  and  at  Weth- 
ersfield,  and  openly  boasted  that  whenever  the 
opportunity  came  they  would  repeat  their  feroci 
ties.  They  had  roasted  Butterfield  at  the  stake,  as 
well  as  Tilly.  They  had  slain  men  and  women  at 
Wethersfield;  they  had  carried  their  children  away 
into  captivity;  and  much  of  this  had  been  a  matter 
of  visual  experience  on  the  part  of  the  colonists.  It 
is  no  wonder  that  the  cup  of  vengeance,  once  at  the 
white  man's  lips,  should  be  drained  to  the  very 
dregs.  Mason's  firing  the  wigwams  was  undoubt 
edly  the  only  means  of  his  salvation;  he  and  his 
men  were  targets  for  unseen  foes  lurking  among 
the  shadows  of  the  wigwams;  all  of  them  might 
have  been  shot  down  without  discovering  the  source 
of  the  attack.  He  had  run  his  quarry  into  this  hole, 
and  he  purposed  to  smoke  it  out.  The  English 
were  no  doubt  actuated  by  the  spirit  of  desperation ; 
for  they  were  in  a  strange  country,  short  of  food, 
and  exhausted  by  weariness.  Some  had  been  killed, 

[283] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

others  wounded ;  and  theirs  was  to  conquer,  or  sub 
mit  to  certain  annihilation.  With  them,  any  means 
justified  the  end.  It  will  be  noticed  in  this  con 
sideration  that  the  savage  allies  had  not,  up  to  the 
point  of  firing  the  fort,  taken  any  active  part  in  the 
assault.  They  were  as  likely  to  fly  as  they  were  to 
defend;  and,  as  DeForest  says:  "Had  Mason  con 
tinued  to  fight  on  as  he  began,  so  many  of  his 
soldiers  would  have  been  killed  and  disabled  that 
the  rest  might  have  been  overwhelmed  by  their 
wounds,  and,  at  best,  obliged  to  abandon  their 
wounded,  making  a  clamorous  retreat."  When, 
the  moment  before,  Mason  seized  the  brand  that 
set  the  matted  roofs  of  the  wigwams  aflame  his 
position  was  critical.  He  came  near  being  killed 
himself.  His  men  were  scattered  about  a  hostile  en 
closure,  a  disintegrate  force  acting  without  orders, 
each  fighting  apparently  on  his  own  account,  and 
altogether  beyond  direction  amid  a  bedlam  of 
tumult  which  would  have  smothered  any  order  he 
might  have  given.  Had  he  sounded  a  retreat,  the 
first  backward  step  would  have  started  the  Narra- 
gansetts  homeward.  The  savages  they  came  to 
attack  would  have  become  the  attacking  party,  and 
his  expedition  would  have  been  a  failure. 

Mason  was  rough,  but  of  good  mettle;  a  man  of 
stern  policies  and  unyielding  in  his  determination. 
This  firing  of  the  Pequod  fort  was  bound  to  become 
efficacious,  from  the  fact  that  the  threatening  and 
bloodthirsty  Pequod  was  taught  the  lesson  that 

[284] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

while  the  English  settler,  upon  the  surface,  was  ap 
parently  a  pacific  individual,  yet  upon  emergency 
he  could  be  as  cruel  and  revengeful  as  himself. 

It  was  a  terrible  lesson,  roughly  administered, 
and,  to  such  tribes  as  had  been  uninfluenced  by  the 
Pequods,  a  suggestion  of  the  punishment  which 
would  be  meted  out  to  them  in  case  they  committed 
any  overt  act  against  the  English.  This  evidently 
was  the  phase  which  struck  the  Pequods  most 
forcibly;  for,  on  the  following  day,  a  council  of  the 
nation  was  called  and  held,  which  resolved  itself 
into  a  discussion  as  to  the  course  which  they  had 
better  pursue  for  the  future.  Heretofore  victorious 
in  their  forays  upon  their  savage  neighbors,  they 
had  received  a  sudden  and  unexpected  defeat,  which 
was  an  intimation  to  them  of  other  defeats  should 
they  continue  to  array  themselves  against  the  Eng 
lish  in  a  hostile  manner.  DeForest  says  that  three 
plans  of  action  were  considered.  The  first  was  to 
flee  the  country;  the  second,  to  follow  up  the  Eng 
lish  with  an  attack;  the  third  was  to  declare  war 
against  the  Narragansetts  and  to  visit  upon  them 
the  devastation  wrought  by  the  English.1  Their 
chief  sachem,  Sassacus,  was  in  favor  of  carrying  the 
war  into  the  country  of  the  Narragansetts,  and  even 
to  the  strongholds  of  the  English.  Perhaps,  with 
the  vision  of  a  seer,  he  foresaw  the  ultimate  ex- 

1  DeForest,  History  of  the  Indians,  p.  141. 
Underbill,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xxxvi.,  p.  28. 

[285] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

tinction  of  his  people  and  preferred  to  die  in  battle 
rather  than  to  become  a  wanderer  among  strange 
tribes.  The  traditions  of  the  Pequod  were  not  such 
as  would  entitle  him  to  any  generosity  at  the  hands 
of  the  neighboring  nations.  His  people  were  to  be 
come  strangers  in  their  own  land;  they  were  with 
out  friends,  or  allies.  The  majority  of  his  people 
were  not  inclined  to  accept  his  proposition.  Un 
accustomed  to  defeat,  they  were  discouraged  at  the 
extent  of  their  calamity  and  were  in  favor  of  quit 
ting  the  domains  of  their  forefathers  and  of  going, 
at  that  moment,  they  knew  not  where.  One  thing 
they  were  determined  upon,  and  that  was  to  aban 
don  their  country.  The  ties  of  home  were  to  be 
severed;  and  their  wigwams,  their  corn-fields,  their 
hunting  and  fishing  grounds,  and  even  the  graves 
of  their  progenitors  to  be  abandoned.  Mason's 
attack  had  fallen  upon  them  like  lightning  out  of  a 
clear  sky.  Heretofore,  they  had  always  seen  the 
blow  before  it  reached  them,  and  had  been  able  to 
ward  it  off.  In  this  instance  the  hand  of  destruction 
smote  them  before  they  had  seen  it.  This  was  their 
final  decision  in  solemn  conclave,  and  one  can 
imagine  the  sorrow  and  heaviness  of  heart  with 
which  they  seized  the  torch  which  they  unhesi 
tatingly  thrust  against  the  wigwams  that  had 
crowned  the  hill-top  where  Sassacus  and  his  fathers 
had  held  royal  sway.1  Such  of  their  belongings  as 

1  Underbill,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xxxvi.,  p.  28. 
Before  the  Pequots  destroyed  their  fortress  they  revenged 
[286] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

could  not  be  carried  with  them  they  destroyed, 
with  possibly  one  last,  lingering  look  upon  the  wide 
country  spread  out  at  their  feet,  painted  with  the 
early  blush  of  summer.  Separated  into  little  knots 
of  savage  humanity  which  were  possibly  made  up 
of  such  as  were  nearest  of  kin,  they  hastily  made 
their  way  to  their  canoes,  and  then  they  swept  out 
over  the  mirroring  waters  of  the  stream  to  Quine- 
pauge. 

This  seat  of  Sassacus  has  been  located  at  New 
London.  In  the  height  of  his  power  he  is  said  to 
have  been  the  lord  of  twenty-six  sachems.  Thus, 
the  once  conquerors  of  this  Pequod  country,  them 
selves  conquered,  had  abandoned  it  to  the  English 
settler.  It  is  recorded  that  thirty  or  forty  of  the 
Pequod  warriors  with  their  families  took  their  way 

themselves  upon  Uncas,  formerly  of  the  ruling  house  of  that 
nation,  and  his  followers,  as  well,  by  killing  all  of  Uncas's 
relatives  then  living  among  them. 

DeForest,  p.  140. 

The  site  of  Sassacus's  royal  residence  was  on  a  commanding 
eminence  a  little  easterly  of  what  has  been  known  as  Fort 
Griswold. 

The  fort  destroyed  by  Mason  was  on  Pequot  Hill,  near  the 
Mystic  River.  Freeman  says  this  latter  was  the  royal  seat, 
"the  seat  of  the  Pequot  power." 

Freeman,  Civilization  and  Barbarism,  p.  62. 

But,  contra,  Hubbard  says:  "Wesquash  .  .  .  proved  a 
good  Guide,  by  whose  Direction  they  were  led  to  a  Fort  near 
Mystic  River,  some  miles  nearer  than  Sassacus  his  Fort,  which 
they  first  intended  to  assault." 

Hubbard,  Indian  Wars,  p.  20. 

[287] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

into  the  country  to  the  westward.  Longing  for  the 
sight  of  a  familiar  horizon,  possibly  disheartened 
by  the  strange  situation  in  which  they  found  them 
selves,  they  returned  into  their  native  country, 
secreting  themselves  in  the  recesses  of  a  swamp.1 
The  main  body  of  several  hundred,  comprising 
other  warriors,  squaws,  and  children  of  the  na 
tion  at  whose  head  were  Sassacus,  Mononotto,  and 
some  other  sagamores,  carried  out  their  purpose 
with  a  greater  resignation.  They  kept  on;  whither, 
they  knew  not.  To  escape  the  hated  English  was 
their  sole  desire.  On  reaching  the  Connecticut 
River  they  had  opportunity  to  wreak  some  slight 
vengeance  upon  the  English.  Three  colonists  were 
going  down  the  river  in  a  shallop.  They  were 
immediately  attacked  by  the  Pequods.  The  Eng 
lish  fought  for  their  lives,  wounding  many  of  the 
enemy  with  their  muskets;  but,  overwhelmed  by 
the  Pequods,  one  was  killed,  and  the  other  two  were 
taken  captive.  Upon  these  the  savages  wrought  a 
most  ferocious  vengeance.  They  split  the  bodies 
of  their  captives  open  from  breast  to  back,  and 
hung  the  mutilated  remains  on  the  trees  by  the  side 
of  the  river,  that  whoever  of  the  hated  English 
sailed  up  or  down  might  see  what  was  in  store  for 
them  should  they  have  the  misfortune  to  fall  into 
the  hands  of  these  people.2 

^inthrop,  vol.  i.,  p.  232. 

2 Underbill,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xxxvi.,  p.  28. 
Trumbull  says:  "They  ripped  them  from  the  bottom  of 
[288] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

After  this  they  crossed  the  Connecticut,  where 
they  shifted  their  course  toward  the  coast.  It  was 
in  the  late  spring-time,  in  the  planting-season. 
Their  provisions  left  over  from  the  preceding  year 
depleted  or  destroyed,  their  condition  was  preca 
rious.  The  seashore  would  afford  clams  and  oysters, 
with  which  life  might  be  sustained  until  such 
time  as  their  fortunes  might  change  for  the  better. 
Scouring  the  forest  for  succulent  roots;  without 
shelter,  exposed  to  the  elements;  sleeping  on  the 
ground  in  the  open  air,  wet  and  drenched  in  the 
rain,  their  cup  of  misery  must  have  been  full.  This 
retreat  was  slow,  by  reason  of  the  accompanying 
children  and  squaws.  Their  journeys  were  short, 
and  their  halts  frequent.  Passing  through  a  coun 
try  which  was  without  provisions,  or  means  of 
supply;  crossing  the  domains  of  the  Quinnipiacs 
and  the  Wepawaugs,  they  finally  found  shelter  in  a 
considerable  swamp  in  what  is  now  Fairfield.  For 
many  of  them  it  was  to  be  a  burial-place;  for  here 
was  to  take  place  the  final  conflict  between  the 
English  and  the  Pequods. 

The  Bay  colonists  had  been  slow  in  assisting 
their  neighbors,  a  trait  which  became  proverbial  in 
later  years,  when  the  savages  began  their  incursions 
upon  the  settlements  bordering  along  the  Maine 

their  bellies  to  their  throats,  and  in  a  like  manner  split  them 
down  their  backs,  and  thus  mangled,  hung  them  upon  the 
trees  by  the  river-side." 
Indian  Wars,  p.  51. 

[289] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

coast.  It  was  only  when  the  savages  had  broken 
over  the  New  Hampshire  border  and  the  towns 
along  the  North  Shore  were  likely  to  be  attacked 
that  Massachusetts  Bay  awoke  to  the  necessity  of 
undertaking  a  general  defence  against  the  Indians; 
and  it  so  happened  that  the  force  which  was  raised 
in  the  Bay  Colonies  to  be  despatched  to  Connecticut 
did  not  get  away  until  the  latter  end  of  June,  when 
the  main  stroke  against  the  Pequods  had  already 
been  delivered;  and  even  then  Stoughton's  force 
had  been  reduced  to  one  hundred  twenty  men, 
for  the  reason  that  the  Bay  people  had  concluded 
that  the  power  of  the  Pequods  had  been  so  much 
broken  that  it  would  require  fewer  men  to  com 
plete  their  extermination.1 

The  overthrow  of  the  Pequods  by  Mason  at  Fort 

*"A  rumor  having  reached  Boston  that  all  the  English  and 
the  Indians  had  been  cut  off  in  the  retreat  from  Fort  Mystic, 
which  rumor  was  confirmed  by  a  post  from  Plymouth,  the 
movement  of  the  troops  was  delayed  until  word  arrived  from 
Roger  Williams  that  the  army  was  safe  and  that  'all  the 
Pequots  were  fled,  and  had  forsaken  their  forts.'" 

Barry,  History  of  Massachusetts,  vol.  i.,  p.  228. 

Winthrop,  vol.  i.,  p.  169. 

Mason,  2  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  viii.,  p.  143. 

Trumbull,  vol.  i.,  pp.  81,  82. 

Barry  says  this  delay  on  the  part  of  Massachusetts  in  send 
ing  troops  to  the  aid  of  the  Connecticut  settlers  was  on  ac 
count  of  differences  which  existed  between  the  Plymouth 
Colony  and  its  more  ambitious  rival  up  the  bay. 

Barry,  History  of  Massachusetts,  vol.  i.,  p.  227. 

[290] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

Mystic,  and  the  utter  destruction  of  that  place,  was 
a  matter  of  great  rejoicing  among  the  colonists, 
who  began  to  breathe  more  freely  as  their  anxieties 
were  relieved.  The  news  was  received  in  Massa 
chusetts  with  great  satisfaction,  and  the  authorities, 
now  that  the  savages  were  on  the  run,  determined 
to  give  them  no  time  to  recover  from  the  blow  so 
thoroughly  administered  by  Mason.  It  has  been 
noted  that  Stoughton  sailed  with  his  contingent 
in  June,  almost  at  the  last  of  the  month,  and,  having 
good  success,  he  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Pequod 
River,  hoping  there  to  make  some  connection  with 
the  Connecticut  soldiery.  Not  finding  any  of  the 
Connecticut  people  there,  he  took  up  his  march  to 
the  westward,  with  some  anticipation  of  meeting 
the  Pequods ;  but,  unsuccessful  in  his  search  for  the 
enemy,  — which  was  not  at  all  surprising,  from  their 
well-known  habit  of  skulking, —  he  retraced  his 
steps,  coming  back  to  the  mouth  of  the  stream,  where 
he  was  joined  by  a  few  of  the  Narragansett  tribe, 
who  brought  him  the  welcome  information  that  some 
of  their  people  had  discovered  the  hiding-place  of 
the  Pequods  and  were  watching  to  see  that  they 
did  not  escape  before  the  English  could  come  up 
with  them.  This  was  the  little  band  of  savages 
first  mentioned,  which  had  started  out  upon  a 
journey  to  the  westward,  but  who  had  turned  back 
into  their  own  country. 

The  Narragansetts  offered  to  guide  Stoughton 
to  the  hiding-place  of  the  Pequods.    He  at  once 

[291] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

placed  himself  under  their  direction,  and,  making 
a  quick  march  of  about  twelve  miles,  he  came  upon 
this  unfortunate  remnant.  They  were  too  few  to 
make  any  successful  defence,  and  they  were  unable 
to  escape,  as  the  Narragansetts  had  hemmed  them 
about  completely,  with  the  result  that  they  were 
every  one  captured.  This  little  body  of  Pequods 
made  no  resistance.  Two  of  their  sachems  were 
given  their  lives  on  the  condition  that  they  would 
lead  Stoughton  and  his  men  to  the  place  of  hiding  of 
the  larger  body,  under  the  command  of  Sassacus. 
The  other  warriors  captured  at  this  time  they 
slaughtered  in  cold  blood.1  In  this  raid  they  took 

1Winthrop,  vol.  i.,  p.  232. 
Hubbard,  Indian  Wars,  p.  42. 

Hubbard  says  of  the  fight  with  Sassacus  and  his  savages: 
"The  Men  among  them  to  the  Number  of  thirty  were  turned 
presently  into  Charon's  Ferry-boat,  under  the  Command  of 
Skipper  Gallop,  who  dispatched  them  a  little  without  the 
Harbor.  The  Females  and  Children  were  disposed  of  accord 
ing  to  the  Will  of  the  Conquerors;  some  being  given  to  the 
Narhagansets  and  other  Indians  that  assisted  in  the  Service." 

Hubbard,  Indian  Wars,  p.  30. 

It  was  this  sort  of  "  service  "  that  inspired  Mather  to  prayers 
of  thankfulness  and  praise. 

This  was  the  same  John  Gallop  who  recaptured  Oldham's 
pinnace  from  the  savages  off  the  Manisees  in  1636.  Gallop 
was  prominent  among  the  settlers  of  Connecticut.  He  had  a 
son  John,  a  captain  in  King  Philip's  War,  who  was  killed  at 
the  Narragansett  Fort  battle,  December  19,  1675. 

Miss  Caulkin's  History  of  New  London. 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

captive  some  eighty  squaws,  with  their  children. 
Thirty  of  these  were  turned  over  to  the  Narragan- 
setts,  three  to  the  Massachusetts  Indians,  and  the 
remainder  were  sent  to  the  Massachusetts  colonists 
as  slaves.1 

No  comment  which  the  annalists  of  later  times 
might  attempt  could  possibly  compass  the  vindic- 
tiveness  of  the  English  upon  this  occasion.  The 

^inthrop,  who  had  this  year,  1636-37,  been  reflected 
Governor  of  Massachusetts,  defeating  Vane  after  a  tumul 
tuous  campaign  in  which  the  General  Court  nearly  came  to 
blows,  had  this  letter  from  Captain  Stoughton.  The  latter 
wrote:  "By  this  pinnace,  you  shall  receive  48  or  50  women 
and  children,  unless  there  stay  any  here  to  be  helpful,  con 
cerning  which  there  is  one,  I  formerly  mentioned,  that  is  the 
fairest  and  largest  amongst  them  to  whom  I  have  given  a  coate 
to  cloathe  her.  It  is  my  desire  to  have  her  for  a  servant,  if  it 
may  stand  to  your  good  liking,  else  not.  There  is  a  little  squaw 
that  steward  Culacut  desireth,  to  whom  he  hath  given  a  coate. 
Lieut.  Davenport  also  desireth  one,  to  wit,  a  small  one,  that 
hath  three  strokes  upon  her  stomach  thus;  —  |  |  +.  He 
desireth  her,  if  it  will  stand  with  your  good  liking.  Sosomon, 
the  Indian,  desireth  a  young  little  squaw,  which  I  know  not." 

MS.  Letter  of  Captain  Stoughton,  State  Papers. 

Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  106. 

One  hardly  fails  to  note  the  truckling  of  these  man-hunters 
to  Winthrop.  It  is  suggestive  of  the  more  modern  Tammany, 
and  as  a  side-light  upon  the  political  domination  of  the  pe 
riod  it  is  fairly  luminous. 

Captain  Israel  Stoughton,  who  commanded  the  Massa 
chusetts  forces,  was  commissioned  a  colonel  by  Parliament 
and  fought  under  Cromwell.  Stoughton  was  not  in  the  attack 

[293] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

only  palliation  available  to  the  historian  recording 
these  transactions  is  to  imagine  himself  surrounded 
with  the  perils  which  menaced  the  meager  popula 
tion  of  the  English  at  that  time.  If  one  could 
imagine  himself  in  a  wilderness  of  woods  beset  by  a 
pack  of  hungry  wolves  he  might  better  appreciate 
the  situation.  The  colonists  in  the  aggregate  as 
compared  with  these  aboriginal  people  were  but  a 
handful;  and  had  the  savages  been  equipped  with 
weapons  and  ammunition  as  were  the  English,  and 
had  they  understood  their  manipulation  as  they 
did  a  century  later,  the  story  of  the  English  occu 
pation  of  New  England  would  have  afforded  a 


on  Fort  Mystic  which  Mason  describes  as,  "the  breaking  of 
the  Nest,  and  unkennelling  those  savage  wolves." 

Drake  suggests  that  Stoughton,  in  writing  this  letter,  had 
an  eye  to  the  profit  he  might  derive  from  the  sale  of  his  cap 
tive;  that  he  was  less  interested  in  fighting  the  savages.  He 
refers  to  Mason  as  not  giving  Stoughton  much  credit.  Stough 
ton  stood  for  the  avowed  Puritan  thrift  in  this  transaction, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  Puritan  conscience.  There  was  little 
difference  between  the  Puritan  slave-catcher  and  the  govern 
ment  that  profited  by  the  transaction.  Winthrop  in  the 
saddle,  the  course  of  affairs  in  the  main  responded  to  his 
touch  upon  the  bridle-rein.  Stoughton  relied  upon  Winthrop 
to  lend  a  willing  acquiescence  to  his  scheme  of  personal  ag 
grandizement,  and  there  is  no  evidence  of  any  disagreement 
between  them.  The  suggestion  is  a  rather  malodorous  one; 
but  in  the  early  relations  of  the  English  with  the  Indian  it  is 
not  to  be  passed  over  in  silence  by  the  historian. 

Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  106. 

[294] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

much  different  narrative.  The  advantage  which 
the  English  had  over  the  savage  was  that  the  latter 
did  not  appreciate  the  numerical  weakness  of  the 
former;  and,  as  has  been  before  noted,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  antagonisms  which  existed  among 
these  Indians  prior  to  the  coming  of  the  English,  a 
confederacy  might  have  been  established  among 
them  against  which  the  English  would  have  been 
unable  to  contest.  With  Endicott,  Mason,  and 
Stoughton,  the  punishment  meted  out  to  the  Pe- 
quods  was  the  same  as  would  have  been  deserved 
by  any  incorrigible  malefactor  who  had  broken 
all  the  laws  of  humanity,  and  whose  bloodthirsti- 
ness,  subtlety,  and  treachery  had  placed  him  with 
out  the  pale  of  humanity  and  human  protection. 

To  the  English,  these  aborigines  were  so  many 
wild  beasts;  and  they  were  to  be  shot  with  as  slender 
consideration  as  one  would  annihilate  a  pack  of 
wolves  at  his  heels.  To  the  English  colonists  the 
cruelties  practised  by  the  Pequods  with  every 
opportunity  offered  could  not  but  strike  ter 
ror  to  the  heart  of  the  bravest  man  or  woman. 
These  experiences  of  the  English  at  the  hands  of 
the  savages,  which  were  acutely  illustrated  in  the 
cases  of  Oldham,  Butterfield,  and  Tilly,  and  lat 
terly  of  the  two  Englishmen-  who  had  been  split 
open  and  hung  upon  the  trees  above  the  banks  of 
the  Connecticut,  afforded  an  illustration  from  which 
the  English  imbibed  their  spirit  of  retaliation. 

Of  all  the  New  England  savages  of  which  history 
[295] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

has  made  any  record,  the  Pequod  was  of  a  race  for 
which  one  has  but  slender  sympathy  and  com 
passion.  He  was  the  acme  of  devilish  ingenuity 
and  satanic  savagery.  His  chief  delight  was  in 
watching  the  slow  agony  of  his  captive  under  the 
torture,  as  the  strands  of  human  endurance  broke 
one  by  one,  and  finally  ended  in  the  death  of  the 
victim.  No  wonder  the  retaliatory  disposition  of 
the  English  was  aroused  deeply,  or  that  for  a  time 
they  forgot  themselves,  to  become,  like  the  savages 
they  had  doomed  to  destruction,  another  parcel  of 
wild  beasts./  It  is  barely  possible  that  in  the  con 
summation  of  these  killings  of  the  Pequods  the 
intolerancy  of  the  Puritan  found  a  natural  vent, 
and  that  he  carried  on  this  work  with  a  grim  satis 
faction  .)  En  masse,  the  Puritans  were  a  rude  sort, 
and  it  is,  perhaps,  not  too  much  to  say  that  these 
savage  carnivals,  carried  on  without  much  risk  or 
danger  to  themselves,  were  tinged  with  fanaticism, 
as  was  the  Jesuit  whose  hand  consummated  the 
massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew. 

As  against  the  English  bullet,  the  arrow  of  the 
Indian  was  an  unavailing  weapon;  and  one  can 
imagine  the  exultant  mood  which  contracted  the 
muscles  of  the  finger  that  pulled  the  trigger  of  the 
English  musket.  These  men  were  of  an  adven 
turous  spirit,  as  were  most  of  their  fellows  at  home, 
and  not  too  much  is  to  be  expected  of  them.  In 
every  man  is  the  latent  disposition  of  retaliation, 
and  it  is  only  as  the  process  of  civilization  is  per- 

[296] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

f  ected  that  men  overcome  this  disposition  to  revenge 
themselves  upon  others  for  injuries  received  at  their 
hands;  so  it  is  not  strange  that  these  people,  orig 
inally  of  the  commoner  stock  of  England,  which, 
at  that  time,  was  more  or  less  acquainted  with  the 
atrocities  of  warfare,  should  have  entered  into  the 
hunting  of  their  own  kind,  though  of  a  different 
color,  with  the  murderous  zeal  which  apparently 
actuated  them  in  their  conflict  with  the  Indians. 

These  colonists,  by  their  long  English  training, 
were  accustomed  to  the  lording  of  others  over  them. 
Their  traditions  extended  back  to  the  days  of  feu 
dalism,  and  they  had  imbibed  from  their  ances 
tors  the  same  rude  characteristics  which  were  the 
original  foundation  of  the  people  from  whom  they 
had  emanated.  Many  of  them  had  left  the  Old 
Country  for  the  New  with  the  anticipation  that, 
once  among  the  wilds  of  New  England,  their  per 
sonal  liberties  would  be  more  ample,  and  that,  once 
there,  they  might  follow  out  their  own  personal  in 
clinations.  It  is  not  to  be  disputed  that  the  rulers 
of  the  Bay  Colony  understood  the  material  out  of 
which  they  were  to  mould  the  new  State.  This 
material,  under  the  guiding  hand  of  Winthrop  and 
his  assistants,  who  were  largely  made  up  of  a 
court  of  his  own  choosing,  was  directed  and  con 
trolled  by  an  inflexible  purpose;  and  yet,  with  the 
breath  of  the  New  World  in  their  nostrils,  they  had 
assumed  the  role  of  master  —  but  clumsily,  and 
without  the  refinements  common  to  a  greater  in- 

[297] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

telligence;  and  this  perhaps  may  be  their  apology. 
We  do  the  same  thing  in  these  later  days,  only  in  a 
different  way;  the  result  is  the  same.  The  weaker 
goes  to  the  wall  unnoticed  and  unnoted;  and  if  the 
barbarities  of  the  earlier  years  of  the  colonial  settle 
ments  in  their  manner  of  expression  have  become 
obsolete,  it  is  nevertheless  true,  in  these  days,  that 
the  strong  succeed  only  at  the  expense  of  the  weak. 
Leaving  the  Puritans  to  their  fortunes  and  to 
such  commendation  as  they  can  win  from  their 
posterity,  we  return  to  Stoughton.  After  this  mas 
sacre  of  the  Pequods,  which  evidently  was  S  tough- 
ton's  first  experience,  he  was  joined  by  Mason, 
whose  forces  consisted  of  forty  Connecticut  men. 
Together,  they  made  up  a  considerable  force,  and  a 
campaign  of  offence  was  planned.  The  fact  that 
the  Pequods  had  practically  become  a  race  of  wan 
derers  might  have  suggested  the  withdrawing  of 
these  forces,  and  their  return  to  a  more  peaceful 
occupation;  but  it  is  evident  that  the  forlorn  con 
dition  of  the  Pequods  had  no  appealing  force  with 
them.  The  Pequods  had  lost  their  courage,  were 
starving,  and  in  flight.  Nevertheless,  a  pursuit  of 
sixty  miles  through  the  wilderness  into  a  country 
unfamiliar  to  the  English  settler,  and  perhaps  where 
no  English  explorer  had  as  yet  been,  was  inaugu 
rated.  The  action  of  the  English  is  self-evident. 
Their  determination  was  the  annihilation  of  the 
Pequods.  That  these  unfortunate  people  were  to  be 
reduced  to  a  condition  which  should  render  them  so 

[298] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

insignificant  as  a  race,  should  make  them  so  helpless 
in  their  contention  against  others,  that  they  would 
have  neither  the  desire  nor  the  ability  to  resume  the 
rude  life  which  had  made  their  original  country 
habitable  to  their  ancestors  was  the  avowed  pur 
pose  of  the  white  settler,  once  the  savage  was  in  his 
power. 

The  English  were  apparently  actuated  by  fanatic 
sternness,  which  in  many  other  instances  afterward 
marked  the  people  in  and  about  Massachusetts 
Bay  with  a  singular  inhumanity  to  their  own  kind. 
In  their  homes,  possibly,  they  possessed  the  usual 
attributes  of  gentleness  and  consideration  for  those 
who  were  dependent  upon  them;  but  to  such  as 
dared  to  raise  the  voice  of  dissent  against  what 
they  chose  to  regard  as  their  peculiar  and  estab 
lished  principle  along  religious  lines  they  were  as 
inflexible  and  unyielding,  as  inconsiderate  and  un 
generous,  as  the  stones  upon  which  the  sills  of  their 
habitations  were  laid.1 

1  Dr.  Mather  says  in  one  of  his  remarkable  perturbations  of  ~^ 
spirit:  "By  the  year  1636,  it  was  Time  for  the  Devil  to  take  the 
Alarm,  and  make  some  Attempt  in  Opposition  to  the  Posses- 
sion  which  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  going  to  have  of  these 
utmost  parts  of  the  Earth.  These  Parts  were  then  covered 
with  Nations  of  barbarous  Indians  and  Infidels,  in  which  the 
Prince  of  the  Power  of  the  Air  did  Work  as  a  Spirit:  nor  could 
it  be  expected  that  Nations  of  Wretches,  whose  whole  Relig 
ion  was  the  most  explicit  Sort  of  Devil-Worship,  should  not 
be  acted  by  the  Devil  to  engage  in  some  early  and  bloody 

[299] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

From  this  consideration  of  the  motives  which  ac 
tuated  the  leaders,  as  well  as  the  men  who  made  up 
the  colonial  forces  in  this  campaign,  one  notes  they 
embarked  at  Saybrook  to  follow  the  Pequods  in 
their  vessels.  Uncas,  with  the  Narragansetts,  took 
up  the  trail  of  the  Pequods  overland.  They  could 
follow  them  easily,  and,  taking  note  of  their  halting- 
places,  and  the  frequency  of  them,  and  how  they 

Action  for  the  extinction  of  a  Plantation  so  Contrary  to  his 
Interests,  as  that  of  New  England  was." 

Magnolia  Christi  Americana,  bk.  vii.,  p.  41. 

Purchas,  His  Pilgrimage,  p.  717. 

Increase  Mather,  in  his  Election  Sermon,  1677,  p.  76 
(1685  edition)  says:  "Our  Fathers  did  not  in  their  coming 
hither  propound  any  great  Matter  to  themselves  respecting 
this  world.; "  but  they  believed,  according  to  Drake,  that  "here 
was  the  Place  where  Christ  was  to  take  up  his  Abode  while  on 
Earth,  at  his  second  Appearing." 

With  this  accepted  and  regularly  ordained  minister's 
preaching  such  dogma,  what  expectation  could  one  entertain 
of  fair  treatment  of  the  aborigine  at  the  hands  of  the  Puritan  ?  J 

Here  is  another  excerpt  from  Mather:  "The  Natives  of  the 
Countrey  now  possessed  by  the  New  Englanders,  had  been 
forlorn  and  wretched  Heathen  ever  since  their  first  herding 
here;  and  tho  we  know  not  when  or  how  those  Indians  first  be 
came  Inhabitants  of  this  mighty  Continent,  yet  we  may  guess 
that  probably,  the  Divil  decoyed  those  miserable  Salvages 
hither,  in  Hopes  that  the  Gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  would  never 
come  here  to  destroy  or  disturb  his  Absolute  Empire  over 
them." 

Mather,  Life  of  the  Renowned  John  Eliot  p.  64  (Boston 
edition,  1691). 

[300] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

had  been  compelled  to  dig  up  the  scurf  of  the  woods 
for  edible  roots,  and  alongshore  where  they  had 
turned  up  the  mud  for  shell-fish,  they  were  able  to 
estimate  very  accurately  the  time  required  for  over 
taking  the  fugitives.  From  time  to  time  they  cap 
tured  a  savage  straggler  from  the  main  body  under 
Sassacus,  and  from  such  they  obtained  the  re 
quired  information  as  to  the  number  and  condition 
of  the  Pequods.  It  will  be  remembered,  two  sa 
chems  were  reprieved  by  Stoughton  on  the  con 
dition  that  they  would  guide  the  English  into  the 
near  neighborhood  of  the  main  body  of  the  Pequods. 
These  two  sachems  became  conscience-stricken,  or, 
possibly,  to  save  their  lives  had  consented  to  an  act 
of  duplicity.  It  may  have  been  an  act  of  subtlety 
on  their  part,  in  which  their  purpose  was  reserved ; 
for  their  loyalty  to  Sassacus  now  became  manifest 
in  that  they  declined  to  show  the  English  where 
Sassacus  had  gone  into  hiding.  As  a  reward  for 
their  loyalty  to  their  own  race,  as  soon  as  they 
reached  Menunketuc  (Guilford)  they  paid  the 
penalty  of  what  the  English  were  pleased  to  call 
treachery,1  for  it  was  here  they  were  killed  out  of 
hand.  Winthrop  has  it  that  it  was  this  episode  by 
which  the  point  of  land  stretching  out  into  the 
stream  came  to  be  called  Sachem's  Head.  Ruggles, 
in  his  history  of  Guilford,  puts  it  differently.  He 
records  that  during  the  march  of  Uncas  and  his 

1  Winthrop,  vol.  i.,  p.  233. 

[301] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

men  overland  they  came  upon  a  Pequod  sachem 
and  a  few  others,  whom  they  at  once  pursued. 
These  latter  fled  along  the  shore  of  the  eastern  point 
of  Guilford  Harbor,  evidently  with  the  idea,  or  the 
hope,  that  the  Narragansetts  would  keep  to  the 
trail  on  the  main  land,  and  pass  by  them  unwit 
tingly.  They  turned  the  corner  of  this  little  cape 
to  conceal  themselves  near  its  extremity.  Uncas 
had  been  too  long  a  hunter  of  his  own  kind  to  be 
put  off  by  any  such  artifice,  and  he  directed  his 
men  to  scour  the  point  for  the  fugitives,  while  he 
with  some  others  would  keep  on  their  way,  that 
they  might  gain  the  opposite  shore.  The  Pequods, 
discovering  themselves  pursued  and  seeing  no  other 
way  of  escape,  took  to  the  water,  swimming  across 
the  mouth  of  the  harbor  to  the  opposite  shore, 
where,  as  they  landed,  they  were  easily  captured  by 
this  stratagem  of  Uncas.  Uncas  shot  an  arrow  at 
the  sachem,  and  then,  cutting  off  his  head,  he  fixed 
it  securely  in  the  crotch  of  an  oak-tree,  where  the 
grinning  skull  withered  and  bleached  in  the  sun  for 
many  years.1 

While  Uncas  had  been  making  his  way  along  the 
trail  of  the  Pequods  the  vessels  which  carried  the 
English  hugged  the  coast  to  the  westward,  and 
three  days  later  entered  the  harbor  of  New  Haven. 
Their  first  discovery  after  their  arrival  was  a  con 
siderable  column  of  smoke,  which  rose  above  the 

lMass.  Hist.  Coll,  vol.  x.,  p.  100. 
[302] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

tops  of  the  woods.  In  a  spirit  of  elation,  believing 
that  they  had  come  upon  the  Pequods,  there  was  a 
hasty  landing  of  the  troops,  and  a  forced  march 
through  the  forest.  They  followed  the  smoke  to 
the  fire  which  made  it,  and  one  can  appreciate  their 
disappointment  when  they  found  about  it,  instead 
of  the  Pequods,  a  little  band  of  timid  and  friendly 
Indians  who  lived  in  the  vicinity. 

An  instance  which  illustrates  the  depression  un 
der  which  the  Pequods  were  laboring  by  reason  of 
their  many  misfortunes,  misfortunes  which  had  so 
suddenly  fallen  to  their  lot,  is  afforded  by  the  ad 
venture  of  a  Mohegan.  At  Quinnipiac,  a  Mohegan 
by  the  name  of  Jack  Etow  met  three  Pequods. 
Two  of  them  he  captured  and  carried  to  the  Eng 
lish  vessels.1  Under  ordinary  circumstances  the 
Mohegan  would  have  been  the  captive;  but  these 
Pequods  without  doubt  gave  themselves  up  with 
the  hope  that  the  English  might  provide  that  food 
for  them  to  which  they  had  been  a  stranger  for 
weeks,  and  possibly  some  shelter  in  the  place  of 
their  life  of  exposure.  One  of  these  was  granted 
his  life  upon  condition.  The  English  were  in 
search  of  Sassacus;  their  object  was  to  take  his  life 
or  discover  his  place  of  retreat.  To  accomplish 
either  of  these  two  things  the  English  would  for 
bear  their  glut  for  vengeance.  So  the  Pequod  was 
let  loose  on  the  promise  that  he  would  either  bring 

1  Mason,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xviii.,  p.  146. 
[303] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

back  the  news  of  Sassacus's  death,  or  such  informa 
tion  as  would  enable  them  to  find  him.  The 
Pequod  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  Sassacus,  whose 
company  he  joined  and  with  whom  he  remained 
for  some  days,  during  which  he  had  no  opportu 
nity  to  carry  out  the  wishes  of  the  English.  The 
Pequods  at  last  became  suspicious  of  this  savage, 
and  to  avoid  their  watchful  jealousy  he  was  com 
pelled  to  make  his  escape,  which  he  did  under  the 
darkness  of  night.  He  kept  his  word  with  the  Eng 
lish,  returning  to  their  camp,  where  he  gave  them 
the  information  which  they  required  as  to  the  num 
ber  of  the  Pequods,  and  the  place  where  they  were 
to  be  found. 

The  English  again  took  up  their  march,  June  3, 
1637,  starting  off  to  the  westward  toward  a  place 
called  Sasco.  Here  was  an  extensive  swamp,  which 
lay  not  far  from  the  seashore. 

Johnson,  an  early  New  England  writer  whose 
quaintness  is  most  interesting,  relates  an  incident 
which  in  his  telling  of  it  takes  on  a  laughable  aspect. 
The  English  were  pushing  on  through  the  forest. 
They  had  broken  through  a  jungle  of  brush,  where, 
unknown  to  them,  two  Pequod  savages  were 
hiding.  These  Pequods  were  not  only  watching  the 
progress  of  the  English,  but,  after  their  fashion, 
were  lying  in  wait  for  an  opportunity  to  perform 
some  exploit  by  which  the  English  might  be  in 
jured.  They  watched  patiently  while  the  English 
filed  by,  and  when,  as  they  supposed,  the  last  man 

[304] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

was  passing,  they  broke  cover,  and,  in  this  moment 
of  surprise,  they  had  thrown  him  across  their 
shoulders  and  started  with  their  captive  for  the 
depths  of  the  swamp.  The  Englishman  made  an 
outcry,  and  it  was  a  matter  of  good  fortune  for  him 
that  the  lieutenant  of  his  company  closed  up  the 
rear,  who,  coming  to  his  assistance,  began  a  swift 
attack  upon  the  Pequods  with  his  sword.  The 
Pequods  turned  their  captive  into  a  shield,  who 
was  tumbled  and  tossed  about  in  a  most  marvelous 
way,  and  with  such  infinite  swiftness  that  for  a 
considerable  time  Davenport  was  unable  to  touch 
them  with  his  sword.  He  finally  succeeded  in 
reaching  the  Pequods  with  his  weapon,  and  as  soon 
as  the  blood  began  to  run  out  of  their  copper- 
colored  skins  they  dropped  their  prize,  to  escape 
into  the  mysteries  of  the  thicket.1  This  was  the 
only  incident  in  their  march  of  some  twenty  or 
twenty-five  miles  which  is  worth  notice. 

The  men  in  the  van  of  the  English  force  finally 
came  into  a  corn-field,  and  upon  a  rise  of  ground 
just  beyond  they  discovered  a  number  of  Indians. 
They  were  discovered  by  the  Indians  at  the  same 
time,  who  dropped  behind  the  hill  in  their  flight. 
These  were  pursued  by  the  white  men,  and  when 
they  reached  the  hill-top  they  found  themselves 
upon  the  verge  of  a  swamp.  On  its  farther  side 

lMass.  Hist.  Co//.,  vol.  xiv.,  p.  50. 
DeForest,  History  of  the  Indians,  p.  147. 

[305] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

they  counted  about  twenty  wigwams.  This  swamp 
was  divided  by  a  ridge  of  firm  ground.  A  dozen  or 
more  men  were  deployed  to  surround  the  narrower 
end  of  the  swamp,  while  Lieutenant  Davenport, 
with  another  small  force,  followed  the  ridge  of  dry 
land  which  broke  the  swamp  apart.  Before  Daven 
port  had  pushed  his  way  through  to  the  wigwams 
the  Pequods  had  been  warned  of  the  approach  of 
the  English  and  had  at  once  fled  to  the  swamp. 
Their  sachem  went  with  them,  The  English  were 
made  aware  that  hidden  among  the  thickets  of  this 
low  ground  was  the  quarry  of  which  they  were  in 
search.  Here  were  some  three  hundred  savages  of 
both  sexes,  of  which  perhaps  a  third  were  warriors. 
Davenport  and  his  men  had  not  gone  far  before 
they  were  met  with  a  storm  of  arrows,  by  which  the 
English  were  wounded,  some  of  them,  who  when 
they  fell  found  themselves  bogged  in  the  mire.  At 
that  moment  the  Pequods  closed  in  upon  them  to 
engage  in  a  hand-to-hand  fight.  The  result  of  this 
savage  sortie  was  that  the  English  under  Daven 
port  were  repulsed.  It  was  with  difficulty  that  the 
wounded  were  pulled  out  of  the  mud  and  carried 
back  to  a  place  of  safety  on  the  solid  ground.1  From 


1Mason,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xviii.,  pp.  146,  147. 
Winthrop,  vol.  i.,  p.  231. 

The  order  was  given  to  surround  the  swamp,  but  Lieu 
tenant  Davenport  failed  to  get  it  in  season.  "With  a  dozen 
more  of  his  Company  in  an  over-eager  Pursuit  of  the  Enemy, 

[306] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

this  moment  on,  the  movements  of  the  English  were 
of  a  rapid  character.  They  threw  a  cordon  of  men 
around  the  outside  of  the  swamp  and  a  leisurely 
musket-fire  upon  the  savages  was  begun.  No  at 
tempt  was  made  to  force  the  swamp. 

The  English,  realizing  after  a  time  that  this 
method  of  attack  was  resulting  only  in  the  killing  of 
women  and  children,  decided  upon  a  parley,  which 
was  undertaken  by  Thomas  Stanton,  who  offered 
himself  as  interpreter.  He  approached  the  swamp, 
and,  penetrating  its  thickets  for  a  short  distance, 
hailed  the  Indians,  telling  them  that  an  amnesty 
would  be  given  to  all  those  who  were  innocent  of 
killing  the  English.  Much  to  the  surprise  of  the 
latter,  the  savage  sachem  at  once  accepted  the 
offer,  and  at  the  head  of  his  people  led  them  to  the 
outer  edge  of  the  swamp.  Within  the  next  two 
hours,  in  little  groups,  the  savages  emerged  from 
the  thickets,  until  about  two  hundred  of  the 
Indians  had  given  themselves  up  to  the  English. 

[he]  rushed  immediately  into  the  Swamp  where  they  were  very 
rudely  entertained  by  those  Evening  Wolves  that  were  being 
newly  kennelled  therein;  for  Lieut.  Davenport  was  sorely 
wounded  in  the  Body,  John  Wedgewood  of  Ipswich  in  the 
Belly,  and  was  laid  hold  on  by  some  of  the  Indians." 

Hubbard,  Indian  Wars,  p.  34  (S.  G.  Drake  Edition). 

Vide  Hubbard 's  note.  This  was  Richard  Davenport,  of 
the  Castle  in  Boston  Harbor,  where  he  was  struck  by  lightning 
and  killed,  July  15,  1665.  Captain  Nathaniel  Davenport, 
killed  at  the  Fort  Fight  at  Narragansett,  was  his  son. 

[307] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

But  not  all  had  left  the  swamp.  Sassacus  and  his 
warriors  had  turned  over  to  the  English  those  of 
their  company  who  during  the  last  few  weeks  had 
been  a  burden  upon  their  movements.  These  were 
the  old  men  of  the  tribe,  whose  years  of  usefulness 
had  been  left  behind,  and  as  well  the  women  and 
the  children.  It  was  evident,  with  these  helpless 
people  removed  from  the  swamp,  that  the  Pequods 
had  decided  upon  a  fight  to  the  finish;  and  when  a 
messenger  of  peace  had  conveyed  to  them  the  last 
message,  they  shrilled  at  him,  "We  will  fight  it  out 
to  the  last"!  and  they  followed  their  defiance  with  a 
flight  of  arrows;  and,  not  satisfied  with  that,  they 
assailed  him  with  such  vigor  that  he  would  have 
been  killed  had  the  English  not  gone  to  his  rescue. 
For  the  remainder  of  the  afternoon  the  English 
were  passive,  but  after  nightfall  they  so  disposed 
of  their  men  that  the  savages  were  completely  sur 
rounded;  the  line  of  the  English  about  the  swamp 
was  circumscribed,  so  that  the  distance  between  the 
soldiers  was  not  more  than  twelve  feet.  After  the 
guards  were  set,  the  Pequods  occupied  their  time 
by  creeping  stealthily  upon  them,  and,  as  occasion 
offered,  discharging  their  arrows;  so  that  while 
quite  a  number  of  the  soldiers  had  their  clothes 
pierced,  none  were  wounded.  The  English  kept  up 
a  broken  fire  of  musketry  through  the  night,  by 
which  means,  Hubbard  says,  "many  of  them  were 
killed  and  buried  in  the  mire  as  they  found  the 
next  day."  This  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  for  the 

[308] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

reason  that  the  English,  in  placing  their  sentinels, 
had  cut  a  lane  through  the  narrows  of  the  swamp, 
using  their  swords  as  hatchets,  whereby  the  savages 
were  practically  impounded  at  close  quarters.1 

As  the  night  waned  a  heavy  fog  drifted  in  from 
the  river,  which  suggested  to  the  Pequods  some 
opportunity  to  escape  from  the  English.  They 
made  a  ruse  by  throwing  themselves  suddenly  with 
loud  cries  against  the  line  of  sentinels  guarding  the 
swamp.  The  attack  was  made  upon  that  portion 
of  the  guard  made  up  of  Patrick's  men,  who  re 
pelled  them  without  much  difficulty;  but  as  fast  as 
the  Pequods  were  driven  back  they  renewed  their 
assault  upon  the  line.  After  a  little,  what  began  as 
a  savage  sortie  became  a  battle ;  and  as  others  of  the 
English  came  to  the  relief  of  Patrick  the  savages 
were  broken  and  driven  back  into  the  swamp.  The 
ruse  was  fairly  successful;  for  while  Mason  was 
making  the  round  of  the  swamp  he  found  a  con 
siderable  body  of  the  savages  pushing  their  way 
outside  the  line  of  the  guards.  The  mist  concealed 
the  movements  of  the  savages  to  a  great  degree, 
but  Mason,  trusting  to  his  instinct,  ordered  his 

1Hubbard  says:  "By  this  Time,  Night  drawing  on,  our 
Commanders  perceiving  on  which  Side  of  the  Swamp  the 
Enemies  were  lodged,  gave  orders  to  cut  through  the  Swamp, 
with  their  Swords,  that  they  might  better  hem  them  round  in 
one  Corner,  which  was  presently  done,  and  so  they  were  begirt 
in  the  Night." 

Indian  Wars  (S.  G.  Drake  Edition),  vol.  ii.,  p.  35. 

[309] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

men  to  discharge  their  muskets  toward  the  swamp, 
with  the  result  that  the  Indians  were  repulsed ;  but, 
desperate  in  their  determination  to  escape  the  fate 
that  awaited  them  at  daybreak,  they  renewed  their 
attack  on  Patrick's  line,  which  was  broken,  and 
through  it  some  sixty  or  seventy  Pequods  made 
their  escape.  After  the  battle  of  the  swamp,  which 
resulted  in  the  slaughter  of  the  remaining  Pequods, 
a  pursuit  was  made  after  those  who  had  escaped 
through  the  morning  fog,  some  of  whom  were  found 
dead  by  the  pursuing  party.  A  considerable  quan 
tity  of  wampum  and  other  property  prized  by  the 
Indians  was  captured,  along  with  one  hundred 
eighty  prisoners,  mostly  women  and  children.1 

The  Pequod  sachem,  Sassacus,  had  no  part  in 
this  battle.  Uncertain  as  to  the  loyalty  of  some  of 
the  Pequods,  two  or  three  of  whom  had  been  en 
gaged  in  an  effort  to  betray  him,  and  realizing  that 
he  was  to  be  relentlessly  pursued  by  the  English, 
he  determined  to  leave  the  larger  portion  of  his 
people  to  their  fate.  Revealing  his  purpose  to 
Mononotto,2  the  secret  of  his  proposed  flight  was 
imparted  to  some  twenty,  or,  as  some  authors  say, 
forty,  of  his  most  redoubtable  warriors,  and  he 
quietly  gathered  together  some  five  hundred  pounds' 

1  Mason,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xviii.,  p.  148. 
Winthrop,  vol.  i.,  pp.  32,  279. 

2  Mononotto  among  the  Pequots  was  placed  next  to  Sassacus 
by  Drake.   Hubbard  also  calls  him  "a  noted  Indian."   In  the 

[310] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

worth  of  wampum,  and  fled  like  a  thief  in  the  night, 
into  the  country  of  the  Mohawks.  Sassacus  has 
come  down  through  the  historians  as  a  warrior 
famous  for  his  leadership  and  his  bravery.  For  all 
that,  he  was  apparently  not  above  deserting  those 
dependent  upon  him  for  counsel  and  protection. 
Whatever  view  may  be  taken  of  this  action,  it  is 
evident  that  he  was  controlled  by  the  instinct  which 
has  always  marked  his  race  as  a  subtle  and  treach- 

troubles  with  the  Pequots  it  was  among  his  tribe  that  the 
English  began  their  murders.  The  writer  agrees  with  Drake: 
"There  is  no  more  to  excuse  the  murder  of  a  Pequot  than  an 
Englishman." 

After  the  foray  of  the  English  at  Block  Island  they  sailed 
up  the  Connecticut  River  to  continue  their  errand  of  de 
struction.  As  they  sailed,  they  were  hailed  by  many  of  the 
Pequots  on  either  side  of  the  river  to  know  their  errand. 
Their  reply  was  that  they  wished  to  speak  with  Sassacus.  He 
had  gone  to  Long  Island.  Then  they  demanded  Mononotto. 
He  was  away  as  well.  Then  the  English  went  ashore  to  de 
mand  the  perpetrators  of  the  Stone  massacre.  They  were 
told  if  they  would  wait  they  would  have  them  sent  for,  and 
that  Mononotto  would  shortly  come  to  them.  In  the  mean 
time,  while  the  savages  were  holding  the  English  in  this  in 
terview,  "others  transported  their  goods,  women  and  children 
to  another  place."  Finally  the  English  were  informed  that 
Mononotto  would  not  come.  Upon  that  a  skirmish  ensued. 
One  Indian  was  killed,  and  an  Englishman  wounded. 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  pp.  108,  109. 

Gardener's  account  varies:  "They  went  and  demanded 
the  Pequit  Sachem  to  come  to  a  parley,  but  it  was  returned 
for  answer  that  he  was  from  home,  but  within  three  hours  he 

[311] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

erous  people.  One  writer  has  excused  his  apparent 
cowardice  by  alleging  that  he  was  accused  by  his 
people  of  being  the  author  of  their  misfortunes; 
that  they  would  undoubtedly  have  killed  him  in 
their  distemper,  had  not  some  of  his  own  sachems 
interposed.  It  is  suggested  that  these  animosities 
followed  him  closely  after  the  destruction  of  Fort 

would  come;  and  so  from  three  to  six,  and  thence  to  nine, 
there  came  none.  But  the  Indians  came  without  arms  to  our 
men,  in  great  numbers,  and  they  talked  with  my  men,  whom 
they  knew;  but  in  the  end,  at  a  word  given,  they  all  on  a  sud 
den  ran  away  from  our  men,  as  they  stood  in  rank  and  file, 
and  not  an  Indian  more  was  to  be  seen ;  and  all  this  while  be 
fore,  they  carried  all  their  stuff  away,  and  thus  was  that  great 
parley  ended.  Then  they  [the  English]  displayed  their 
colours,  and  beat  their  drums,  burnt  some  wigwams  and 
some  heaps  of  corn,  and  my  men  carried  as  much  aboard  as 
they  could,  but  the  army  went  aboard,  leaving  my  men 
ashore,  which  ought  to  have  marched  aboard  first.  But  they 
all  set  sail,  and  my  men  were  pursued  by  the  Indians,  and 
they  hurt  some  of  the  Indians,  two  of  them  come  home 
wounded.  The  Bay-men  killed  not  a  man,  save  that  one 
Kichomiquim  [Cutshamequin],  an  Indian  Sachem  of  the  Bay, 
killed  a  Pequit;  and  thus  began  the  war  between  the  Indians 
and  us  in  these  parts." 

Gardener's  Pequot  Warres,  p.  13. 

This  sachem  seems  to  be  the  only  one  who  escaped  the 
Mohawks.  Drake  is  of  the  opinion  that  he  was  killed  by  the 
English. 

One  finds  this  in  a  manuscript  letter  of  Captain  Stoughton: 
"Captain  Mason  and  30  men  are  with  us  in  Pequot  River, 
and  we  shall  the  next  week  joine  in  seeing  what  we  can  do 

[312] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

Mystic  by  Mason,  and  the  destruction  of  his  own 
village  by  himself.1  This  state  of  affairs,  it  is 
claimed,  in  some  degree  forced  him  to  abandon  his 
people,  against  his  real  inclination.  The  argument 
is  a  specious  one,  and  does  not  seem  to  be  founded 
upon  a  real  condition.  Sassacus  had  been  the  in 
veterate  enemy  of  the  English;  and  following  the 
settlement  along  the  Connecticut  River,  the  out 
rageous  attacks  upon  the  English  by  his  people, 
manifestly  at  his  instigation,  and  oftentimes  by  his 
actual  participation,  had  so  incensed  the  English 
that  to  him  remained  but  two  courses  of  action. 
The  one  was  to  place  himself  beyond  the  reach  of 

against  Sassacus  and  another  great  sagamore,  Monowattuck 
[Mononotto]." 

Massachusetts  State  Papers. 

1  Johnson,  2  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  iv.,  pp.  49-51. 

Mason,  2  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  viii.,  pp.  146-148. 
Gardener,  3  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  iii.,  pp.  150,  151. 

Morton's  Mem. 

Trumbull,  vol.  i.,  pp.  83-85. 

Barry  says:  "On  the  return  of  the  Massachusetts  troops, 
a  day  of  Thanksgiving  was  ordered  to  be  observed,  and  the 
soldiers  were  to  be  feasted  by  their  several  towns." 

Barry,  History  of  Massachusetts,  vol.  i.,  p.  229. 

Massachusetts  Records,  vol.  i.,  p.  204. 

Morton's  Mem.,  pp.  99-106. 

Increase  Mather  piously  observed,  "It  was  supposed  that 
no  less  than  500  to  600  Pequot  souls  were  brought  down  to 
hell  that  day." 

Mather's  Relation,  p.  47. 

[313] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

the  hated  English;  and  the  other  was  to  meet  them 
at  the  head  of  his  warriors,  to  share  with  them  the 
disasters  which  were  so  surely  bound  to  overtake 
them. 

As  a  race,  the  Pequods  were  feared  by  all  tribes 
adjacent  to  their  domain,  and  at  some  time  or 
another  all  had  suffered  more  or  less  by  reason 
of  the  ferocious  dispositions  of  this  people.  They 
were  really  the  buccaneers  of  that  part  of  the  coun 
try  —  spoiling  wherever  spoil  was  to  be  had,  and 
annihilating  wherever  power  was  to  be  obtained. 
Once  the  power  of  the  Pequods  was  broken,  they 
were  a  race  of  wanderers,  without  friends,  and  the 
sport  of  every  barbarous  circumstance.  No  one 
knew  this  better  than  Sassacus;  and  no  one  knew 
better  than  he,  by  reason  of  the  neighboring  tribes 
joining  themselves  to  the  English  as  allies,  the  pur 
pose  of  that  confederate  movement. 

Some  authors,  in  writing  of  him,  have  argued 
that,  seeing  there  was  no  salvation  for  him  or  his 
people  except  in  an  abrupt  flight,  he  took  occasion 
to  urge  upon  his  people  that  it  was  the  best  course 
to  be  pursued,  and  applied  himself  to  the  following 
out  of  his  own  advice  only  when  he  discovered 
that  it  was  not  acceptable  to  his  people.  He  was  a 
fugitive  from  justice;  by  an  unwritten  law  he  was 
doomed.  When  he  made  his  asylum  with  the 
Mohawks,  from  whom  he  had  no  particular  reason 
to  expect  other  than  treachery,  it  is  evident  that  his 
action  was  based,  not  upon  sound  consideration, 

[314] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

but  upon  the  spur  of  the  moment.  Shortly  after,  he 
found  himself,  much  to  his  satisfaction,  in  the  midst 
of  the  Mohawk  tribe,  who  —  possibly  with  the  de 
sire  to  gratify  the  English,  and  perhaps  to  pay  off 
some  old  scores  which  until  then  they  had  no  op 
portunity  of  settling  —  surprised  him  and  his  war 
riors,  all  of  whom  were  killed  by  the  Mohawks, 
with  the  exception  of  Mononotto,  who,  although 
wounded,  made  his  escape.  In  the  following 
August  the  Mohawks  sent  to  the  English  on  the 
Connecticut  River  the  scalps  of  Sassacus  and  one 
of  his  brothers;  also  the  scalps  of  five  of  his 
sachems.1  The  captive  Pequods  taken  by  the  Eng 
lish  were  made  servants.  Common  parlance  would 
denominate  them  slaves.  The  restless  disposition, 
however,  of  these  wild  people  of  the  woods  was 
productive  of  so  much  discomfort  to  their  task 
masters  that  but  few  of  them  were  held  for  any 
length  of  time  in  a  condition  of  servitude.2  Such  as 
were  not  retained  by  the  English  in  their  service 
were  shipped  away  to  the  West  Indies  by  the 
Massachusetts  government,  where  they  were  sold 
as  slaves. 

1Winthrop,  vol.  i.,  p.  35. 

"The  few  that  fled  with  Sasacus  to  the  westward  were 
totally  destroyed  by  the  Mohawks.  The  scalp  of  Sasacus 
was  in  the  fall  of  1638  presented  to  the  governor  and  council 
of  Massachusetts." 

Trumbull,  Indian  Wars.,  p.  59. 

2  Mason,  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xviii.,  p.  148. 
[315] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

Among  these  prisoners  who  were  captured  in 
the  Fairfield  Swamp  were  Mononotto's  wife  and 
daughters.  As  has  been  recorded  in  a  note  to  one 
of  the  preceding  pages,  it  was  credited  to  her  that 
her  influence  had  saved  the  lives  of  the  two  girls 
who  wrere  captured  and  taken  away  in  the  attack 
upon  Wethersfield.  Her  modesty  and  intelligence 
attracted  to  her  the  interest  of  the  English,  and  her 
humanity  won  something  of  their  gratitude.1  Un 
obtrusive  in  her  gentleness  and  patient  in  her  un 
complaining,  she  commended  herself  to  her  cap 
tors,  preferring  to  them  but  two  requests.  The  one 

1  Mononotto's  wife  was  known  among  her  people  as  Win- 
cumbone.  She  seems  to  have  been  noted  for  her  pity  and 
humanity  for  those  who  were  in  trouble  or  in  danger.  Besides 
the  incident  of  the  two  English  maids,  Gardener  relates  an 
incident  of  some  men  who  went  up  the  Connecticut  River  to 
trade,  and,  landing  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  tribe  over 
which  Mononotto  held  sway,  one  "Thomas  Hurlbut  stepping 
into  the  Sachem's  wigwam,  not  far  from  the  shore,  enquiring 
for  the  horses,  (these  horses  had  been  stolen  from  a  man 
whose  name  was  Eltow,)  the  Indians  went  out  of  the  wigwam, 
and  Wincumbone,  his  mother's  sister,  was  then  the  great 
Pequit  Sachem's  wife,  who  made  signs  to  him  that  he  should 
be  gone,  for  they  would  cut  off  his  head ;  which,  when  he  per 
ceived,  he  drew  his  sword  and  ran  to  the  others,  and  got 
aboard,  and  immediately  came  abundance  of  Indians  to  the 
water-side  and  called  to  them  to  come  ashore,  but  they  im 
mediately  set  sail  and  came  home,  and  this  caused  me  to  keep 
watch  and  ward,  for  I  saw  they  plotted  our  destruction." 

Gardener's  Pequot  Warres,  p.  12. 

Stoughton  Letter,  State  Papers. 

[316] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

was  that  the  sanctity  of  her  person  might  be  re 
garded;  the  other,  that  her  children  might  not  be 
separated  from  her.  Her  final  disposition  is  un 
known,  but  like  many  of  the  most  tractable  of  her 
race,  she  probably  became  a  servitor  to  some  Eng 
lish  family;  and  it  is  with  a  very  considerable  satis 
faction  that  one  finds  it  recorded  that  Governor 
Winthrop  enjoined  upon  those  having  her  in  serv 
ice  to  treat  her  with  the  utmost  kindness.1 

This  battle  of  the  Fairfield  Swamp  was  the  end 
of  the  Pequod  race,  it  being  estimated  that  in  that 
fight  fully  seven  hundred  Pequods  had  been  taken 
captive  or  killed.  It  was  given  out  by  those  who 
were  captured  that  out  of  the  twenty-six  sachems 
of  the  Pequod  nation,  only  thirteen  were  known  to 

^ubbard  relates:  "Amongst  the  rest  of  the  prisoners 
special  notice  was  taken  of  the  wife  of  a  noted  Indian  called 
Mononotto,  who  with  her  children  submitted  herself,  or  by 
the  chance  of  war  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  English:  it  was 
known  to  be  by  her  mediation  that  two  English  maids  (that 
were  taken  away  from  Wethersfield  upon  Connecticut  River) 
were  saved  from  death,  in  requital  of  whose  pity  and  human 
ity,  the  life  of  herself  and  her  children  was  not  only  granted 
her,  but  she  was  in  special  recommended  to  the  care  of  that 
honourable  gentleman,  Mr.  John  Winthrop,  for  that  time  be 
ing  the  worthy  Governour  of  the  Massachusetts;  who  taking 
notice  of  her  modest  countenance  and  behaviour,  as  well  as 
of  her  only  request  (not  to  suffer  wrong  either  as  to  the  honour 
of  her  body,  or  fruit  of  her  womb)  gave  special  charge  con 
cerning  her  according  to  his  noble  and  Christian  disposition." 

Hubbard's  Indian  Wars,  pp.  37,  38. 

[317] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

have  survived;  and  it  is  probable  that  these  survi 
vors  were  among  those  who  fled  with  Sassacus  to 
the  Mohawks,  only  to  perish  in  the  massacre  which 
took  place  shortly  after  their  arrival  in  that  coun 
try.1  From  this  on,  the  few  wandering  Pequods 
scattered  here  and  there  through  their  old  domain 
from  time  to  time  became  the  easy  prey  of  the 
Mohegans  and  the  Narragansetts,  who  for  some 
time  after  were  bringing  the  heads  and  hands  of 
their  Pequod  victims  into  the  settlements  of  the 
English,  as  the  gory  relics  of  their  man-hunting  ex 
peditions.  It  is  recorded  that  among  these  was  the 
hand  of  the  sachem  who  directed  the  massacre  of 
Stone  and  his  crew  off  the  Manisses. 

Of  the  Pequods  who  escaped  this  slaughter,  some 
found  asylum  among  those  from  whom  they  had 
formerly  exacted  tribute, —  the  western  Nehantics, 
some  of  the  tribes  on  Long  Island,  and  some  on  the 
Hudson  River.  It  is  possible  that  some  found  their 
way  as  far  south  as  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas. 
Many  gave  themselves  up  to  Uncas,  and,  possibly, 
to  the  eastern  Nehantics  and  the  Narragansetts; 
although  by  treaty  the  latter  had  covenanted  not  to 
receive  them,  and  it  is  recorded  that  they  kept  their 
agreement  with  varying  fidelity.  It  was  the  habit 

1  Drake  says  that  Sassacus  destroyed  his  habitations,  and, 
with  some  eighty  of  his  warriors,  "fled  to  the  Mohawks  who 
treacherously  beheaded  him." 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  106. 

[318] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

of  the  latter  to  deliver  all  Pequods  who  came  to 
them  into  the  custody  of  the  English  at  Boston,  for 
disposition  at  the  hands  of  the  Puritan  magistrates 
—  upon  one  occasion  as  many  as  eighty  of  these  un 
fortunate  people,  among  whom  were  one  consider 
able  sachem  and  twenty  warriors. 

Outside  of  the  Narragansetts,  the  other  tribes 
were  under  no  obligation  to  the  English,  and,  as 
was  the  custom  with  such  people,  the  refugees  were 
taken  into  these  tribes  by  adoption.  This  fact  led 
to  a  controversy  between  the  Nehantics  and  the 
Massachusetts  people,  which  developed  into  an 
open  quarrel.  This  occurred  in  July  of  1637. 
Ninigret,  the  sachem  of  the  Nehantics,  made  no 
pretension  of  secrecy  in  his  harboring  of  the 
Pequods.1 

1  Drake  makes  note  that  there  was  a  manifest  disposition 
on  the  part  of  the  sachems  of  the  Narragansetts  and  Mohe- 
gans  (it  will  be  remembered  here  that  the  Nehantics  were  of 
the  Narragansett  race)  to  afford  an  asylum  for  the  homeless 
Pequots.  One  finds  in  the  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  some  of  the  cor 
respondence  between  Roger  Williams  and  the  Governor  of 
Massachusetts,  wherein  it  is  apparent  that  Williams  was  em 
ployed  to  explain  to  the  sachems  of  these  tribes  what  they 
might  depend  upon  if  they  did  not  adhere  strictly  to  the  terms 
of  their  agreement  concerning  the  Pequots,  which  was,  evi 
dently,  that  all  Pequots  happening  within  their  domain 
should  be  brought  to  Boston,  to  be  dealt  with  by  the  magis 
trates.  It  is  apparent  that  Massachusetts  Bay  was  not  averse 
to  the  slave  traffic.  Williams  received  a  letter  from  the  Massa 
chusetts  governor  upon  this  subject  at  the  hands  of  an  Indian, 

[319] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

With  every  accession  of  Pequods,  the  numerical 
strength  of  these  tribes,  or  clans,  was  increased; 
and  so  it  came  about  that  the  clan  of  Uncas,  which 
was  notably  weak  upon  the  breaking  out  of  the 

whose  name  was  Otash.  It  is  to  be  noted  here  as  one  of  the 
inconsistencies  of  the  Bay  government  that  they  should  solicit 
the  assistance  of  Williams,  who  had  been  exiled  by  them. 
While  they  objected  to  his  presence,  they  were  still  willing  to 
take  advantage  of  his  offices  with  a  people  to  whom  the  pres 
ence  of  Williams  was  more  grateful,  evidently,  than  their 
own.  Williams,  obliging  as  he  apparently  always  was,  went 
to  the  Narragansetts;  and  he  says  in  his  report  to  the  Massa 
chusetts  authorities:  "Having  got  Canounicus  and  Miantun- 
nomuh,  with  their  council  together,  I  acquainted  them  faith 
fully  with  the  contents  of  your  letter,  both  greivances  and 
threatenings ;  and  to  demonstrate  I  produced  the  copy  of  the 
league  (which  Mr.  [Sir  Henry]  Vane  sent  me,)  and  with  break 
ing  of  a  straw  in  two  or  three  places,  I  showed  them  what  they 
had  done." 

The  reply  of  the  sachem  to  Williams  was  that  when  the 
Governor  of  Massachusetts  understood  what  they  had  to  ex 
plain,  their  conduct  would  be  satisfactory  to  him;  they  had 
not  wished  to  make  trouble,  but  they  "could  relate  many 
1  particulars  when  the  English  had  broken  their  promises." 

Since  the  ending  of  the  Pequot  War,  Canonicus  admitted 
that  he  had  heard  of  some  squaws  escaping  from  the  English, 
and  had  ordered  them  to  be  returned,  but  knew  nothing  more 
of  them ;  he  would  have  the  country  searched  for  them.  Mian- 
tunnomoh  had  heard  of  six.  He  had  seen  four  of  them.  When 
they  were  brought  to  him  he  had  showed  anger  and  demanded 
why  they  had  not  carried  them  to  Mr.  Williams,  that  they 
might  be  delivered  up  to  the  English.  They  told  him  the 
squaws  were  lame  and  unable  to  go;  upon  which  the  sachem 

[320] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

war  of  the  earlier  spring,  the  first  real  conflict  of 
which  took  place  at  Fort  Mystic,  began  to  be  as 
formidable,  by  reason  of  the  number  of  refugees 
being  absorbed  into  it,  as  it  had  been  hitherto 

had  sent  to  Mr.  Williams  to  come  and  take  them.  Williams 
evidently  did  not  care  for  the  office  and  in  turn  ordered  the 
sachem  to  attend  particularly  to  that  matter,  whose  reply  was 
that  he  was  busy  and  could  not.  "The  sachem  was,"  says 
Williams,  "in  a  strange  kind  of  solemnity,  wherein  the  sachem 
eats  nothing  but  at  night.  While  these  festivities  were  being 
carried  on,  the  squaws  made  their  escape."  This  sachem 
said  that  he  was  sorry  that  the  governor  should  charge  him 
with  wanting  these  squaws,  for  he  did  not.  When  Williams 
told  him  that  he  knew  of  his  sending  for  one  at  least,  Mian- 
tunnomoh  said  that  the  squaw  was  not  for  himself,  but  for 
Saussamun,  who  at  that  time  had  been  at  his  house,  who  on 
some  occasion  had  lamed  himself,  and  that  the  latter  "fell  in 
there  on  his  way  to  Pequt,  whither  he  had  been  sent  by  the 
governor."  The  squaw  he  desired  was  the  daughter  of  a 
sachem  who  during  his  lifetime  had  been  a  great  friend  of 
Miantunnomoh,  and  it  was  in  a  spirit  of  kindness  that  he 
wished  to  ransom  her. 

He  assured  Williams  that  himself  and  his  people  were  true 
"to  the  English  in  life  or  death,"  whereupon  he  charged 
Uncas  and  his  Mohegans  had  long  since  played  false,  and  he 
was  afraid  they  would  continue  to  be  so.  He  said  that  the 
Mohegans  had  never  yet  found  a  Pequot;  to  which  he  added, 
"Chenock,  ejuse,  wetompatimucks!"  ("Had  ever  friends  dealt 
so  with  friends ! ")  Williams  wished  for  a  more  lucid  explana 
tion,  and  the  sachem  replied:  "My  brother,  Yotaash,  had 
seized  upon  Puttaquppuunck,  Quame,  and  20  Pequots,  and 
60  squaws;  they  killed  three  and  bound  the  rest,  whom  they 
watched  all  night.  Then  they  sent  for  the  English,  and  de- 

[321] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

feeble.  To  the  English,  once  the  Pequods  had  be 
come  amalgamated  with  the  Mohegans  or  Ne- 
hantics,  it  was  a  matter  of  difficulty  to  distinguish 
them  as  individuals  from  those  of  the  tribes  upon 

livered  them  in  the  morning  to  them.  I  came  by  land,  accord 
ing  to  promise,  with  200  men,  killing  10  Pequots  by  the  way. 
I  desired  to  see  the  great  sachem,  Puttaquppuunck,  whom 
my  brother  had  taken,  who  was  now  in  the  English  houses,  but 
the  English  thrust  at  me  with  a  pike  many  times,  that  I  durst 
not  come  near  the  door." 

"Mr.  Williams  told  him  that  they  did  not  know  him,  else 
they  would  not;  but  Miantunnomoh  answered,  'All  my 
company  were  disheartened,  and  they  all,  and  Cutshamo- 
quene,  desired  to  be  gone.'  Besides,  he  said,  'two  of  my  men, 
Wagonckwhut  and  Maunamoh  (Meihamoh)  were  their 
guides  to  Sesquankit,  from  the  river's  mouth.'  Upon  which, 
Mr.  Williams  adds  to  the  governor:  'Sir,  I  dare  not  stir  coals, 
but  I  saw  them  too  much  disregarded  by  many.' 

"Mr.  Williams  told  the  sachems  they  received  Pequts  and 
wampom  without  Mr.  Governor's  consent.  Cannounicus 
replied,  that  although  he  and  Miantunnomu  had  paid  many 
hundred  fathom  of  wampom  to  their  soldiers,  as  Mr.  Governor 
did,  yet  he  had  not  received  one  yard  of  beads  nor  a  Pequt. 
Nor,  saith  Miantunnomu,  did  I,  but  one  small  present  from 
four  women  of  Long  Island,  which  were  no  Pequts,  but  of 
that  isle,  being  afraid,  desired  to  put  themselves  under  my 
protection." 

Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  107. 

In  1637  Miantunnomoh  went  to  Boston,  where  he  met  the 
officials  of  the  colony,  who  treated  with  him,  and  with  whom 
he  parted  upon  "fair  terms."  He  evidently  carried  with  him 
a  complaint  against  the  Nehantics;  and  in  Winthrop's 
Journal,  vol.  i.,  p.  243,  it  is  noted:  "We  gave  him  leave  to 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

whose  mercy  they  had  thrown  themselves.  They 
were  practically  the  same  people;  and,  once  their 
interest  became  common,  they  were  identical.  It 
was  only  through  the  Narragansetts,  who  were 

right  himself  for  the  wrongs  Janemoh  [Ninigret],  and  We- 
quash  Cook  had  done  him,  and  for  the  wrongs  they  had  done 
us,  we  would  right  ours  in  our  own  time." 

The  following  year  the  Long  Island  Indians  who  paid 
tribute  to  the  English  complained  that  this  same  Ninigret 
had  robbed  them  of  some  of  their  property,  whereupon  Cap 
tain  Mason  was  despatched  from  Connecticut  to  the  Nehan- 
tics  to  obtain  satisfaction.  Ninigret  responded  by  going  to 
the  English  without  delay;  and  so  the  matter  was  disposed 
of  in  a  friendly  fashion.  When,  afterward,  the  English  were 
advised  that  Miantunnomoh  was  conspiring  against  them, 
and  making  some  endeavor  with  some  other  tribes  that  they 
assist  him  in  his  enterprise,  the  English  sent  to  learn  the 
truth  of  the  report.  This  sachem  satisfied  the  English  as  to 
his  own  fidelity;  but  Winthrop  says  in  his  Journal,  "  Janemoh, 
the  Niantick  sachem  carried  himself  proudly  and  refused  to 
come  to  us,  or  to  yield  to  anything,  only  he  said  he  would  not 
harm  us  except  we  harmed  him."  Drake  finds  in  this  attitude 
of  the  Nehantic  sachem  the  occasion  of  unqualified  approval. 

On  this  occasion  Winthrop  says:  "So  the  governor  gave 
him  a  fair  red  coat  and  defrayed  his  and  his  men's  diet,  and 
gave  them  corn  to  relieve  them  homeward,  and  a  letter  of 
protection,  &c.,  and  he  departed  very  joyful." 

It  is  apparent,  in  the  dealings  of  the  English  with  the 
Indians  to  the  westward,  that  they  had  very  little  consider 
ation  for  those  of  the  Narragansett  race,  except  in  so  far  as 
they  might  be  able  by  their  adroit  use  of  them  to  carry  out 
their  purpose,  which  was  evidently  the  annihilation  of  the 
aborigines.  The  people  nearest  the  English  were  the  Wam- 

[323] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

bitterly  hostile  to  the  Mohegans,  that  this  condition 
of  affairs  was  revealed;  and  so  it  came  about  that 
just  a  year  after  the  quarrel  of  the  Massachusetts 
government  with  the  Nehantics  had  transpired, 

panoags,  of  which  tribe  Massasoit  was  the  ruling  sachem. 
It  was  for  the  interest  of  the  English  that  they  should  main 
tain  the  most  amicable  relations  with  these  latter  people, 
who  acted  as  a  buffer  between  them  and  the  more  aggressive 
tribes  of  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut.  The  English  were 
aware  of  the  animosities  existing  between  the  Pequots,  the 
Mohegans,  and  the  Narragansetts,  and  were  not  averse  to 
fomenting  their  alleged  differences  into  causes  which  might 
lead  to  their  engaging  each  other  in  war.  In  such  case,  the 
English  inclined  toward  one  side  or  the  other,  but  always  to 
the  disadvantage  of  the  savages.  Winthrop's  attitude  in 
dealing  with  these  sons  of  the  forest  was  that  of  an  astute 
diplomat.  He  looked  upon  the  extinction  of  the  red  man  as 
inevitable.  He  exacted  tribute  from  them;  gave  them  in  re 
turn  very  little  of  value,  and  much  questionable  advice.  His 
captains  slaughtered  them  in  their  distant  fastnesses;  and, 
not  content  with  having  reduced  them  to  a  state  of  defence- 
lessness,  he  traded  upon  the  freedom  of  their  women  and 
children,  by  which  they  were  condemned  to  a  future  worse 
than  had  overtaken  the  warriors  of  their  tribe.  This  traffic  in 
Pequot  women  and  children  for  money  on  the  part  of  the 
Massachusetts  Colony  has  left  a  stain  upon  its  integrity  that 
neither  time  nor  the  most  friendly  historian  can  effaces 

Winthrop's  Journal,  under  his  own  hand,  is  the  indubitable 
evidence  upon  which  this  criticism  is  based.  The  carefulness 
,/  which  he  exhibits  in  recording  this  evidence  is  indicative  of 
the  conscience  of  the  times. 

Winthrop's  Journal,  vol.  i.,  pp.  265,  266. 

However  punctiliously  devout  the  Puritans  might  have 
[324] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

and  while  the  scattered  Pequods  were  being 
hounded  by  their  enemies  to  destruction,  Uncas 
with  thirty-seven  of  his  most  notable  warriors 
found  their  way  to  Boston.  They  made  it  a  cere- 
been  in  matters  of  religious  observance  and  consolation,  the 
"Covenant  of  Works,"  and  such  like  cleansings  of  the  "out 
side  of  the  platter,"  they  were  experts  in  twisting  their  con 
sciences  when  it  came  to  matters  of  business  with  the  Indians. 

Referring  again  to  Miantunnomoh,  it  will  be  noted  that 
early  in  1637,  to  show  the  English  at  Boston  how  well  he  was 
keeping  his  promise  of  making  war  against  the  Pequots,  he 
sent  them  a  Pequot's  hand  by  one  of  his  men.  This  war,  as 
the  current  chapter  indicates,  was  of  short  duration,  to  the 
accomplishment  of  which  the  Narragansetts  lent  one  hundred 
warriors.  For  their  services  they  received  a  portion  of  the 
prisoners  as  slaves.  Miantunnomoh  received  eighty,  accord 
ing  to  Mather's  Relation,  p.  39.  After  the  Pequot  War  was 
over,  this  sachem  still  maintained  his  allegiance  to  the  Eng 
lish  by  seizing  upon  such  Pequots  as  made  their  escape  from 
their  masters,  who  were  promptly  returned  to  the  English. 
They  also  relinquished  their  right  of  conquest  in  Block 
Island  and  such  other  territory  as  they  had  taken  from  the 
Pequots. 

It  was  in  March,  1637,  that  Miantunnomoh,  with  four 
other  sachems,  sold  to  William  Coddington  and  others  the 
island  of  Rhode  Island,  also  other  islands  in  Narragansett 
Bay,  "for  the  full  payment  of  40  fathom  of  white  peag,  to  be 
divided"  between  the  five  sachems.  In  addition  to  "eight 
fathom  of  peag,"  Miantunnomoh  was  to  "have  10  coats  and 
20  hoes  to  give  to  the  present  inhabitants,  that  they  shall  re 
move  themselves  from  the  Island  before  next  winter." 
Specific  description  of  the  lands  include,  "the  great  Island 
of  Aquidneck  lying  from  hence  [Providence]  eastward  .  .  .  , 

[325] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

monial  visit;  and  when  admitted  to  the  presence  of 
the  Colonial  Council  Uncas  presented  to  it  twenty 
fathoms  of  wampum  as  a  gift  for  the  governor.  His 
gift  was  refused,  upon  the  ground,  as  the  council 
informed  him,  that  until  he  had  discovered  to  them 
fully  his  transactions  with  the  Pequods  in  receiving 
and  harboring  them  they  could  not  receive  him 
with  friendly  consideration. 

Uncas  was  in  a  quandary.  It  was  plain  to  him  that 
he  was  to  be  tried  by  the  council  upon  the  question 
of  his  sincerity.  A  man  of  quick  resource,  he  at 
once  decided  that  to  bring  upon  himself  the  anger 
of  the  English  people  was  to  invite  the  fate  of 
Sassacus.  Likewise,  determined  not  to  allow  him 
self  to  be  separated  from  any  of  his  followers  there 
present,  he  protested  with  great  earnestness  that  all 
the  warriors  with  him  were  of  the  Mohegan  race. 

also  the  marshes,  grass  upon  Qunnonigat  and  the  rest  of  the 
islands  in  the  bay  excepting  Chabatewece,  formerly  sold  unto 
Mr.  Winthrop,  the  Gov.  of  Mass.,  and  Mr.  Williams  of 
Providence,  also  the  grass  upon  the  rivers  and  capes  of  Citac- 
kamuckqut,  and  there  thence  to  Paupasquat." 

It  appears  that  the  aged  Massasoit  joined  in  this  con 
veyance,  by  reason  of  the  following  memoranda  in  the  deed : 
"I,  Osemequon  freely  consent  that  they  may  make  use  of 
any  grass  or  trees  on  the  mainland  of  Pacausit,  having  re 
ceived  5  fathom  of  wampum  also."  To  this  memoranda  is 
attached  the  sign-manual  of  Osemequon. 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  pp.  60-70. 

Winthrop's  Journal,  vol.  i.,  p.  267;  vol.  ii.,  p.  8. 

State  Papers,  Boston. 

[326] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

His  grief  was  as  evident  as  were  his  protestations, 
which  the  magistrates  accepted,  as  they  did  his 
gift,  a  few  moments  later.  Acquiring  a  new  cour 
age,  he  covered  his  heart  with  his  hand  and  said  to 
the  governor:  "This  heart  is  not  mine;  it  is  yours. 
I  have  no  men;  they  are  all  yours.  Command  me 
any  hard  thing  and  I  will  do  it.  I  will  never  believe 
an  Indian's  words  against  the  English.  If  any 
Indian  shall  kill  an  Englishman,  I  will  put  him  to 
death,  be  he  never  so  dear  to  me."1 

In  accordance  with  his  usual  habit  when  dealing 
with  others,  Uncas  maintained  his  protestations  to 
the  extent  of  his  own  interest,  which  he  found  was 
furthered  by  yielding  to  the  demands  of  the  Eng 
lish.  Uncas  was  far-seeing  in  this  respect,  in  that 
he  recognized  the  power  of  the  English.  It  is  evi 
dent  that  he  adhered  to  them  for  the  reason  that 
that  adherence  would  be  to  his  own  advantage.  As 
DeForest  says,  "He  was  faithful  to  them  just  as  the 
jackal  is  faithful  to  the  lion;  not  because  he  loves 
the  lion,  but  because  it  gains  something  by  remain 
ing  in  his  company." 

The  letters  of  Roger  Williams  throw  some  light 
upon  Uncas's  sincerity;  for,  as  the  sachem  was  re 
turning  into  his  country  from  Boston,  his  journey 
homeward  took  him  into  the  near  neighborhood  of 
where  Williams  lived.  One  of  his  company,  falling 
lame,  found  his  way  to  the  latter's  house.  The 

^inthrop's  Journal,  vol.  i.,  pp.  265,  266. 
[327] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

name  of  this  savage  was  Wequaumugs,  being  by 
birth  of  mixed  blood.  His  father  was  a  Narragan- 
sett  and  his  mother  a  Mohegan,  which  fact  accorded 
him  a  friendly  reception  as  he  happened  to  be 
with  either  tribe.  He  informed  Williams,  having 
reference  to  Miantunnumoh,  that  there  were  only 
two  Pequods  in  the  company  of  the  latter,  both  of 
whom  had  been  captured  by  the  Narragansett 
sachem's  men.  He  also  said  that  among  the  Ne- 
hantics  there  were  about  sixty  Pequods  under 
Wequash  Cook,  the  same  alluded  to  by  Drake  as 
"the  renegade  Pequot  who  betrayed  his  people  at 
Fort  Mystic  into  the  hands  of  Mason,  and  as  well 
those  who  had  taken  refuge  in  the  Fairfield,  or 
New  Haven  swamp."1  Being  asked  if  Uncas  had 
taken  along  with  him  to  Boston  any  Pequods,  he 
told  Williams  there  were  six  in  the  company,  two 
of  whom,  Pematesick  and  Weaugomhick,  had 
killed  some  of  the  English.  Williams  made  a  note 
of  these,  also  an  account  of  the  conversation,  which 
he  despatched  to  Winthrop,  evidently  with  the  in- 

1In  a  letter  to  Winthrop,  Roger  Williams  alludes  to  "We 
quash  (whose  name  signified  a  swan,)  and  Wuttackquiack- 
ommin,  valient  man,  especially  the  latter,  who  have  lived 
these  three  or  four  years  with  the  Nanhiggonticks,  and  know 
every  pass  and  passage  amongst  them,  who  desire  armor  to 
enter  their  houses." 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  105. 

Drake  says  in  a  note  to  his  extract,  "the  same  elsewhere 
called  Wequash  Cook,  'which  Wequash'  (says  Dr.  I.  Mather) 

[328] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

tention  of  verifying  the  statement  of  the  Mohegan 
sachem  before  the  magistrates.1  Williams  felt  that 
this  was  due  to  Uncas  by  reason  of  the  gifts  and 
hospitable  treatment  which  had  been  extended  to 
him  and  his  warriors  by  Winthrop. 

A  portion  of  the  Pequod  tribe,  notwithstanding 
the  disasters  which  had  befallen  them  at  the  hands 
of  Mason  and  Stoughton,  had  endeavored  to  main 
tain  a  precarious  independence;  but,  finding  them 
selves  a  continual  prey  to  the  Mohegans  and  Narra- 
gansetts,  who  harried  them  from  one  hiding-place 
to  another,  they  came  to  the  inevitable  conclusion 
that  their  only  safety  lay  in  establishing  some  sort 


was  by  birth  a  sachem  of  that  place,  (where  Sassacus  lived,) 
but  upon  some  disgust  received  he  went  from  the  Pequots  to 
the  Narragansetts,  and  became  chief  captain  under  Mian- 
tonomoh." 

Mather's  Relation,  p.  74. 

Hubbard's  Indian  Wars,  vol.  ii.,  p.  20. 

He  became  a  noted  praying  Indian  after  the  Pequot  War, 
and  was  supposed  to  have  died  from  poison. 

Vide  note  to  Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  94. 

In  New  England's  First  Fruits,  pp.  5-7,  "he  is  made  a 
Saint  of/' 

Gardener  refers  to  him,  in  his  relation  of  the  foray  of 
Stoughton  upon  the  Pequots  at  the  Fairfield  Swamp:  "I  sent 
Wequash  after  them,  who  went  by  night  to  spy  them  out,  and 
the  army  followed  him  and  found  them  at  the  Great  Swamp." 

Gardener's  Pequod  Warres,  p.  22. 

1R.  I.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  iii.,  pp.  140,  141. 

[329] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

of  friendship  with  the  English.1  To  that  end,  some 
of  their  chief  men  went  to  Hartford,  where  they  pro 
posed  to  the  English  to  become  their  servants,  upon 
the  condition  that  their  lives  might  be  preserved 
to  them.  To  the  great  credit  of  the  English  this 
offer  of  surrender  was  accepted,  whereupon  Uncas 
and  Miantunnumoh  were  called  to  a  conference 
with  the  magistrates  as  to  the  final  disposition  of 
these  Pequods. 

This  concession  to  Uncas  indicates  in  a  degree 
the  importance  of  the  Mohegan  sachem  at  that 
time.  His  star  was  in  the  ascendent;  otherwise  a 
request  to  attend  the  English  in  their  deliberations 
would  not  have  been  extended  to  him.  DeForest 
suggests  that  the  English  had  come  to  regard  him 
as  an  ally  upon  whom  they  could  safely  depend  as 
against  such  other  of  the  New  England  aborigines 
as  might  entertain  hostile  designs  against  them. 


^'Mather  says,  in  his  boastful  account  of  'troubles  with 
Pequots:'  'By  such  methods  as  these  was  a  period  put  to 
the  war;  the  few  Pequots  that  survived  submitted  themselves 
to  English  mercy,  and  the  rest  of  the  Indians  who  saw  a  little 
handful  of  Englishmen  massacre  and  capture  seven  hundred 
adversaries  and  kill  no  less  than  thirteen  Sachems  in  one 
short  expedition ;  such  a  terror  from  God  fell  upon  them  that 
after,  for  near  forty  years  together,  the  land  rested  from  war, 
even  unto  the  time  when  the  sins  of  the  land  called  for  a  new 
scourge,  and  Indians,  being  taught  the  use  of  guns,  were 
capable  of  being  made  instruments  of  inflicting  it."3 

Freeman's  Civilization  and  Barbarism,  p.  66,  note. 

[330] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

He  was  to  be  the  savage  watch-dog;  to  sound  the 
alarm  of  possible  savage  invasion.  This  writer  sug 
gests,  as  well,  that  as  the  Pequods  and  Mohegans 
had  already  ceased  their  wars  against  each  other, 
and  had  placed  themselves  under  the  authority  and 
protection  of  Uncas,  they  were  not  averse  to  using 
this  circumstance  as  a  means  to  future  tranquillity. 
It  was  also  apparent  that  new  quarrels  were  upon 
the  point  of  breaking  out  between  the  Mohegans 
and  the  Narragansetts.  The  differences  between 
these  two  savage  races  resulted  in  their  chief  sa 
chem's  being  called  to  Hartford  with  a  view  to  ad 
justing  them,  their  controversies  having  degener 
ated  into  a  series  of  personal  injuries  and  insults  by 
reason  of  which  the  situation  was  most  acute,  and 
which  threatened  to  break  out  into  open  warfare. 
In  addition  to  this,  the  distribution  of  the  Pequods 
was  no  less  important. 

The  Narragansett  sachem  attended  upon  the 
Hartford  Commission,  accompanied  by  his  entire 
family,  several  sachems,  and  a  retinue  of  some  one 
hundred  fifty  fighting-men.  He  had  three  English 
men  in  his  company,  Roger  Williams  being  one  of 
them.  The  taking  along  of  this  considerable  num 
ber  of  warriors  is  an  indication  of  his  apprehension 
in  regard  to  Uncas.  On  his  way  to  Hartford  he 
was  met  by  numerous  Narragansetts,  who  told  him 
that  they  had  been  robbed  by  the  Pequods  and 
Mohegans.  At  one  of  his  camping-places  a  party 
of  Wunnashowatuckoogs,  probably  of  the  Nip- 

[331] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

mucks,  who  were  subject  to  Canonicus,  came  to 
him  with  the  tale  that  they  "had  been  robbed  two 
days  before  by  a  band  of  six  or  seven  hundred 
Indians  composed  of  Pequots  and  Mohegans,  and 
others  who  were  their  confederates.  This  great 
band  had  spoiled  twenty-three  fields  of  their  corn 
and  had  rifled  several  Narragansetts  who  were 
staying  among  them.  Now  they  were  lying  in  wait 
to  stop  Miantinomo  on  his  journey;  and  some  of 
them  had  threatened  to  boil  him  in  a  kettle." 

As  they  continued  their  way  these  stories  were 
augmented,  to  the  degree  that  Williams  and  the 
other  two  Englishmen  recommended  a  discontinu 
ance  of  their  journey  and  a  return,  with  a  view  to 
avoiding  a  possible  encounter  with  Uncas  and  his 
people.  The  suggestion  of  Williams  and  his  friends 
was  disregarded  by  the  Narragansett  sachem,  for 
the  reason  that  he  had  accomplished  a  large  part 
of  his  journey  and  was  determined  to  continue  the 
same,  indifferent  to  any  hostile  action  on  the  part 
of  Uncas.  They  renewed  their  journey,  the  Narra 
gansett  sachem  occupying  the  center  of  the  march, 
with  Roger  Williams  and  the  two  Englishmen  in 
the  van.  As  they  proceeded,  forty  or  fifty  scouts 
were  sent  in  advance ;  and  in  this  way  they  pursued 
their  journey  without  obstacle,  to  finally  reach  the 
Connecticut,  which  they  crossed,  to  find  themselves 
at  the  end  of  their  present  perplexities. 

Once  at  Hartford,  Miantunnumoh  sought  out 
the  English  magistrates,  and,  without  hesitation, 

[332] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

entered  his  complaints  to  them  against  Uncas,  go 
ing  over  in  detail,  not  only  acts  of  actual  violence 
and  injustice,  but  as  well  those  which  had  been  re 
ported  to  him.  Uncas  was  not  present  at  this  hear 
ing.  He  had  avoided  the  contentions  of  the  Narra- 
gansett  sachem  by  sending  a  messenger  to  say  that 
he  was  disabled  by  a  lameness  and  could  not  come. 
This  excuse  was  not  acceptable  to  the  council,  es 
pecially  to  Mr.  Haynes,  who  afterward  became 
governor  of  the  Connecticut  Colony.  A  request, 
which  was  equivalent  to  a  command,  was  des 
patched  to  Uncas  that  he  should  attend  upon  the 
council.  The  result  was,  the  recovery  of  Uncas 
from  his  lameness  was  accelerated,  so  that  shortly 
after  he  was  able  to  reach  Hartford.  Upon  his  ap 
pearance,  the  charges  preferred  against  him  by  the 
Narragansetts  were  taken  up,  and  the  examination 
of  their  integrity  begun.  One  of  the  Mohegans  was 
produced  by  Uncas  in  his  defence,  who,  going  over 
the  story  of  the  Wunnashowatuckoogs,  declared 
there  were  but  a  hundred  men;  and  as  for  the  de 
struction  of  the  corn-fields,  they  took  a  few  ears  to 
roast;  and  as  for  anything  else  that  they  might  have 
done,  it  was  of  a  harmless  character.  The  Narra 
gansetts  asserted  this  story  of  the  Mohegan  to  be 
untrue,  the  consequence  of  which  was  that  the 
hearing  became  almost  immediately  a  scene  of 
violent  recrimination. 

Awearied  by  this  war  of  words,  the  council  finally 
dismissed  the  charges,  after  which  an  attempt  was 

[333] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

made  to  reconcile  the  two  sachems.  It  is  recorded 
that  they  shook  hands,  after  which  the  Narra- 
gansetts  cordially  twice  asked  Uncas  to  a  venison 
feast.  One  is  compelled  to  observe,  in  passing, 
that  the  instincts  of  a  gentleman  were  more  appar 
ent  in  the  Narragansett  than  in  the  Mohegan.1 
Whatever  of  hostile  design  the  latter  may  have  had 
against  the  Narragansett  sachem,  it  is  evident,  in 
this  refusal  to  accept  of  the  proffered  hospitality, 
that  he  reserved  the  right  to  undertake  whatever 
design  he  had  in  mind,  unfettered  by  the  restraint 
which  this  breaking  of  bread  with  Miantunnumoh 
might  impose  upon  him.  In  a  private  conference 
with  the  council  the  latter  revealed  the  names  of 
the  six  Pequod  sachems  remaining,  as  well  as  the 
surviving  Pequods  who  had  been  mixed  up  in  the 
killing  of  the  English.  This  list,  afterward  written 
out,  was  read  to  Uncas,  who  acknowledged  its  cor 
rectness.  The  sachems  were  Nausibouck,  of  Long 
Island;  Puppompogs,  a  brother  of  Sassacus;  Kit- 
hansh;  Nanasquionwut  at  Mohegan;  and  Maus- 
aumpous  at  Nehantic. 

The  result  of  this  was  an  investigation  to  dis 
cover  the  number  and  whereabouts  of  the  remain 
ing  Pequods.  The  Narragansetts  said  Canonicus 

1Hubbard  says  of  Miantonomoh,  he  "was  a  very  good 
personage,  of  tall  stature,  subtil  and  cunning  in  his  con- 
trivements,  as  well  as  haughty  in  his  designs." 

History  of  New  England,  p.  446. 

[334] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

had  no  Pequods;  Miantunnumoh,  ten  or  eleven, 
who  were  those  left  of  the  seventy  who  had  made 
submission  to  him  at  one  time  and  another,  but 
who  had  never  actually  come  into  his  country,  else 
they  had  left  him  of  their  own  accord.  With  the 
exception  of  these  above  enumerated,  the  Narra- 
gansetts  asserted  that  the  remainder  of  the  Pequods 
held  their  ancient  territory  in  occupancy,  or  were 
to  be  found  among  the  Mohegans.  Wlien  Uncas 
was  questioned  as  to  his  knowledge  of  this,  he 
avoided  it  after  his  characteristic  fashion.  As  an 
adept  in  duplicity  Uncas  was  a  savage  Talleyrand. 
He  did  not  know  the  names  of  his  Pequods;  he 
could  not  state  them.  He  had  but  a  few,  anyway. 
He  said  Ninigret  and  three  other  Nehantic  sa 
chems  had  Pequods.  As  for  himself,  he  had  "only 
twenty." 

He  was  bluntly  charged  by  Thomas  Stanton  with 
lying  about  the  matter.  Others  present  charged 
Uncas  with  bringing  over  thirty  to  forty  Pequods 
from  Long  Island  at  one  time;  whereupon  he  then 
acknowledged  that  he  had  thirty,  but  still  asserted 
that  he  did  not  know  their  names.  Such  was  the 
uncertainty  involved  in  this  examination  that  the 
council  directed  him  to  appear  before  them  again 
at  the  end  of  ten  days,  at  which  time  he  was  ex 
pected  to  be  able  to  inform  it  as  to  the  names  and 
exact  numbers  of  the  Pequods  in  his  country. 

A  special  messenger  was  sent  to  the  Nehantics 
to  obtain  a  census  of  the  Pequods  who  were  with 

[335] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

that  tribe.1  Whether  or  not  these  conditions  were 
afterward  fulfilled  is  somewhat  obscure,  as  there  is 
no  existing  record  of  any  further  transactions  in  this 
direction  by  the  Hartford  Council.  A  subsequent 
meeting,  however,  was  held,  at  which  the  remaining 
number  of  the  Pequods  was  agreed  upon,  which 
number  was  finally  estimated  at  two  hundred,  not 
including  the  women  and  children. 

On  October  31,  1638,  what  was  at  that  time  re 
garded  as  the  final  act  in  the  consummation  of  the 
purpose  of  the  English  with  the  Indians  was  en 
tered  into  by  John  Haynes,  Roger  Ludlow,  and  Ed 
ward  Hopkins,  as  the  English  representatives  of 
Connecticut;  by  the  sachem  of  the  Narragansetts,  in 
behalf  of  his  people;  and  by  Uncas,  for  himself  and 
his  sagamores.  This  was  a  tripartite  agreement,  by 
which  was  to  be  preserved  a  lasting  peace  between 
all  parties,  by  means  of  which  all  past  provocations, 
controversies,  and  quarrels  were  to  be  forever  for 
gotten. 

The  English,  undoubtedly  realizing  that  this  lat 
ter  was  an  impossible  condition,  so  modified  the 
treaty  that  in  case  differences  should  arise  between 
the  Narragansetts  and  the  Mohegans  the  com 
plaining  party  was  to  appeal  to  them  as  the  court 
of  last  resort,  whose  findings  in  any  matters  brought 
before  them,  affecting  the  interest  of  either  of  these 

1  Roger  Williams's  Letters. 
R.  I.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  iii.,  pp.  145-148. 

[336] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

tribes,  should  be  accepted  as  final.  A  proviso 
was  inserted  as  well, —  that  should  either  the  Narra- 
gansetts  or  the  Mohegans  refuse  to  be  guided  by  the 
judgment  of  the  English,  the  latter  would  be  justi 
fied  in  employing  force  to  compel  submission.  It 
also  provided  that  the  Mohegans  and  Narragan- 
setts  were  to  engage  in  the  common  cause  against 
such  of  the  Pequods  as  had  killed  any  of  the  Eng 
lish;  and  they  agreed  to  cut  off  their  heads  and 
bring  them  to  the  magistrates  at  Hartford.  The  two 
hundred  male  Pequods  mentioned  as  at  that  time 
being  distributed  among  the  Mohegans,  Narragan- 
setts,  and  Nehantics  were  to  be  divided.  Ninigret 
was  to  have  twenty;  Miantunnumoh,  eighty;  the 
remainder  were  given  to  Uncas.1  An  annual  tribute 
was  exacted  of  a  fathom  of  wampum  for  each  male, 
a  half-fathom  for  each  youth,  and  a  hand  for  each 
male  child.  The  Pequods  were  prohibited  from 
occupying  any  portion  of  their  former  country,  and 
stripped  of  their  name.  They  were  thereafter  to  be 
known  only  as  Narragansetts  and  Mohegans. 

With  their  usual  disposition  to  drive  a  good,  stiff 
bargain  upon  every  favorable  opportunity,  the 
English  prevailed  upon  the  Narragansetts  and  the 
Mohegans  to  relinquish  any  rights  of  conquest  they 
might  have  to  the  Pequod  territory,  which,  by  that 
treaty,  was  to  pass  into  the  hands  of  the  English  of 
Connecticut.2  When  this  treaty  was  concluded, 

1  Mason,  2  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  viii.,  pp.  148,  149. 
2R.  7.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  iii.,  p.  177. 

[337] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

and  the  sachems  of  the  Narragansetts  and  the  Mo- 
hegans  had  bidden  the  council  farewell,  and  had 
betaken  themselves  upon  their  journey  to  their 
several  domains,  the  curtain  had  for  the  last  time 
fallen  over  the  fortunes  of  the  Pequods.  /IF  is  safe 
to  assume  that  a  peace  obtained  in  such  manner, 
the  foundations  of  which  were  almost  wholly  made 
up  of  acts  of  injustice,  hatred,  and  bloodshed,  could 
not  be  otherwise  than  of  short  duration.  Within  a 
year  and  a  half  the  national  existence  of  a  coura 
geous,  yet  savage  race  had  been  obliterated;  and 
while  the  wars  of  the  English  and  the  Pequods  were 
forever  at  an  end,  the  rival  jealousies  of  Uncas  and 
Miantunnumoh  were  to  afford  a  no  less  disreputable 
chapter  of  history  for  the  English  than  that  which 
records  their  dealings  with  the  Pequods. 

From  that  moment  when  Holmes  passed  the 
Dutch  fort  at  Hartford,  as  he  sailed  up  the  Connec 
ticut  with  his  handful,  of  colonists,  the  English  had 
sown  to  the  wind.  (  The  harvest  was  inevitable. 
Blinded  by  self-interest,  indifferent  to  the  red  man, 
taking  refuge  behind  pretense,  adepts  in  dissimula 
tion,  and  not  above  the  degrading  meanness  in 
volved  in  the  trafficking  in  their  own  kind,1  it  was 
fortunate  for  the  English,  at  this  time,  that  to  them 

1  "Although  Governor  Winthrop  tells  us  how  'the  male  chil 
dren  were  disposed  of/  and  also  what  disposition  was  made 
of  'the  women  and  maid  children,'  he  is  si'ent  in  regard  to  the 
disposal  of  a  great  body  of  the  adult  males.  Hutchinson  says, 

[338] 


THE  PEQUOD  WAR 

the  future  was  an  unknown  quantity;  for  across  the 
wall  of  every  English  cabin  was  already  written  in 
invisible  letters  the  prophecy  that  the  sins  of  the 
fathers  should  be  visited  upon  the  children. 


'Many  of  the  captives  were  sent  to  Bermuda  and  sold  as 
slaves.'  Enslaving  Indians  had  become  a  mania  with  spec 
ulators.  Felt,  in  his  annals  of  Salem  and  Ipswich,  informs  us 
that  it  was  a  common  occurrence  for  voyages  to  be  made  to 
sell  captured  Indians,  and  bring  back  cotton,  tobacco,  salt, 
negroes,  etc.  Mather  enlightens  us  by  the  fervor  with  which 
he  relates,  under  the  caption  '  Arma  virosque  cane,9  troubles 
which  the  churches  have  undergone  in  the  wars  with  the 
Indians.  He  says,  'The  dispersed  became  as  so  many  un 
kenneled  wolves.  However,  Heaven  so  smiled  upon  the 
English  hunting  after  them  that  here  and  there  whole  com 
panies  were  trepanned  into  the  hunter's  hands.  Particularly 
at  one  time  some  hundreds  of  them  were  seized  by  Captain 
Stoughton,  with  little  opposition,  who,  sending  away  the 
females  and  children  as  captives,  put  the  men  on  board  a  ves 
sel  of  one  Skipper  Gallup,  which  proved  a  Charon's  ferry-boat 
unto  them,  for  it  was  found  the  quickest  was  to  feed  the  fishes 
with  'em.  Our  forces  had  frequently  the  satisfaction  of  cutting 
them  off  by  companies."3 

Freeman's  Civilization  and  Barbarism,  p.  64,  note. 


[339] 


WARS   OF   THE   MOHEGANS 


WARS   OF   THE   MOHEGANS 

TO  fully  comprehend  the  policy  of  the  English 
toward  the  aborigine  it  is  necessary  to  follow 
somewhat  further  the  fortunes  of  the  Indians  of 
Connecticut,  who,  like  so  many  dogs,  were  to  be  set 
at  the  throats  each  of  the  other,  as  occasion  offered, 
which  the  English  were  not  slow  to  encourage.1 
From  the  close  of  the  Pequod  War,  in  1637,  to  the 
outbreak  of  King  Philip,  1675,  the  English  settle 
ments  along  the  Connecticut  River  westward,  and 
those  extending  east  of  the  Piscataquis  River  as  far 
as  Pemaquid,  are  to  be  regarded  as  forming  the 
frontier  of  the  English  occupation  in  New  England. 
East,  and  north  of  Narragansett  Bay,  the  attitude 
of  the  Indians  toward  the  English  was  pacific. 
South  and  west,  jealousies  of  long  standing  between 

1<cOnly  because  the  Indians  were  set  against  the  Indians, 
giving  opportunity  to  the  whites  to  find  most  effective  allies 
in  their  forest  warfare,  could  the  early  colonists  from  Spain, 
France  or  England  have  been  so  uniformly  the  conquerors. 
.  .  .  The  policy  of  the  whites  was  to  aggravate  the  dissen 
sion  of  the  tribes,  and  to  make  alliance  with  one  or  more  of 
them." 

Ellis,  Memorial  History  of  Boston,  vol.  L,  p.  252. 

It  is  evident  from  the  dealings  of  the  English  with  the 
Narragansetts  that,  as  to  this  particular  tribe,  from  the  first 
their  policy  was  to  leave  it  to  its  fate  so  far  as  any  interference 
on  their  part  might  be  called  for. 

[343] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

the  Narragansetts,  Mohegans,  and  latterly  the 
Mohawks  had  shifted  to  Western  Connecticut 
those  savage  activities  which  became  not  infre 
quently  a  source  of  much  anxiety  and  uneasiness 
to  the  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  colonies.  Im 
mediately  after  the  subjection  of  the  Pequods  the 
Narragansetts  largely  outnumbered  the  other  Con 
necticut  tribes.  Either  by  reason  of  their  discon 
tent;  or  realizing,  perhaps,  that  the  English  had  not 
taken  them  into  their  full  confidence,  as  seemed  to 
be  the  fact  with  the  Mohegans;  or  possibly  because 
their  importance  in  numbers  had  not  procured  for 
them  sovereignty  over  the  smaller  tribes;  or  possibly 
out  of  a  spirit  of  envy  against  Uncas,  a  Mohegan 
sachem,  who  had  been  able  to  ingratiate  himself 
with  the  English,1  and  who  seemed  always  to  be 

144 The  alliance  into  which  the  whites  had  entered  in  order 
to  divide  their  savage  foes  were  the  occasions  of  future  en 
tanglements  in  a  tortuous  policy,  and  of  later  bloody  struggles 
of  an  appalling  character." 

Ellis,  Memorial  History  of  Boston,  p.  254. 

The  religious  belief  that  their  possession  of  New  England 
was  fortified  by  "Divine  Rights"  was  the  Puritan  excuse  for 
a  duplicity  and  inhumanity  which  proved  but  steps  to  a  sav 
agery  to  which  that  of  the  untutored  aborigine  was  incom 
parable;  for  while  they  read  their  way  to  the  complacent 
heights  of  faith  taught  by  the  Nazarene,  they  besmeared  their 
Bibles  with  the  blood  of  helpless  women  and  children.  Even 
clergymen  like  Mather,  Hubbard,  and  some  others  were  no 
less  malignant  in  their  exultant  comment  over  the  destruction 
of  a  "subtle  Brood  and  Generation  of  Vipers." 

[344] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

engaged  in  some  mischievous  machinations  against 
them;  or  incapable,  as  well,  of  forgetting  the  ancient 
traditions  of  their  people;  or  dissatisfied  with  the 
distribution  of  the  spoils  of  the  Pequot  enterprise; 
—  for  some  one,  or  perhaps  all,  of  these  reasons, 
it  was  inevitable  that  the  inveterate  hatred  of  the 
savage  for  his  enemy  should  terminate  in  an  open 
and  disastrous  quarrel.1 

Between  the  advent  of  Massasoit  and  the  later 
assumption  of  power  by  Philip  of  Mount  Hope,  the 
Mohegan  sachem  Uncas  may  be  regarded  as  the 
most  prominent  and  influential  of  the  New  Eng 
land  savages;  for  it  was  about  1638  this  sachem 
was  nearing  the  zenith  of  his  power.  His  career 
may  be  regarded  as  having  begun  the  previous 
year,  upon  the  extinction  of  the  Pequods  by  the 
English,  before  which  time  he  was  overshadowed 
by  the  prestige  of  Sassacus  and  his  fear  of  that 
belligerent  sachem.  After  the  massacre  of  Sassacus 
and  his  warriors  by  the  Mohawks  —  a  tragic  inci 
dent  which  no  doubt  had  its  inspiration  in  the  de 
sire  of  the  Mohawks  to  obtain  some  friendly  footing 

"Impartial  history  has  entirely  and  fully  decreed  that  the 
Narragansetts  were  the  aggrieved  and  wronged  party." 
Hubbard's  Indian  Wars,  vol.  ii.,  p.  39,  note. 
Mather's  Relation. 

Governor  Hopkins,  in  Mass.  Hist.  Coll. 
Arnold,  Rhode  Island. 
Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians. 
Hubbard,  History  of  New  England,  p.  446. 

[345] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

with  the  English  —  Uncas,  relieved  from  the  perils 
of  the  war-path,  cherishing  the  traditional  enmity 
of  his  people  for  the  Narragansetts,  and  anxious  to 
maintain  his  prerogative  with  the  English,  began  to 
plot  the  downfall  of  his  rival,  Miantunnumoh. 

For  reasons  that  are  somewhat  obscure  as  attach 
ing  to  the  policy  of  the  English  toward  the  Narra 
gansetts,  the  course  of  which  was  so  uneven  that  it 
might  well  have  aroused  suspicion  on  the  part  of 
that  people,  —  as  it  inevitably  did  at  a  later  day,  — 
it  may  be  regarded  as  the  cause  of  much  of  the  ill- 
feeling  which  finally  deprived  the  Narragansetts  of 
their  leader.1  Drake  has  remarked  that  "the  con 
tinual  broils  which  prevailed  between  them"  (hav 
ing  reference  to  the  Narragansetts  and  the  Mohe- 
gans),  of  which  the  English  were  generally  the  in 
stigators  and  not  infrequently  the  aggressors,  may 

J"The  English  seem  to  always  have  been  more  favorably 
inclined  toward  other  tribes  than  the  Narragansetts,  as  ap 
pears  from  the  stand  they  took  in  the  wars  between  them  and 
their  enemies,  and  so  long  as  other  tribes  succeeded  against 
them,  the  English  were  idle  spectators;  but  whenever  the  scale 
turned  in  their  favor,  they  were  not  slow  to  intercede." 

Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  60. 

To  accomplish  the  death  of  Miantunnumoh  the  English 
were  actively  allied  to  the  Mohegan  sachem  Uncas.  Mian 
tunnumoh  disposed  of,  afterward,  when  the  Narragansetts 
and  Nehantics  had  Uncas  penned  in  his  fort,  to  finally  achieve 
a  considerable  victory  over  the  Mohegans,  the  English  left 
Uncas  to  get  out  of  his  difficulty  as  he  might. 

Ibid,  p.  68. 

[346] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

be  regarded  as  among  the  causes  which  led  King 
Philip  ultimately  to  question  the  integrity  of  his 
English  neighbors.  The  old  Narragansett  sachem 
Canonicus,1  like  Massasoit,  had  shown  toward  the 
English  a  most  friendly  disposition.  The  Narra- 


1  After  the  incident  of  1622,  when  Canonicus  sent  to  Brad 
ford  a  bundle  of  arrows  tied  with  the  skin  of  a  rattlesnake, 
which  might  have  been  a  ruse  to  try  the  temper  of  the  Plym 
outh  Colony,  the  Narragansett  sachem  became  an  avowed 
friend  of  the  English.  The  act  may  have  been  occasioned  by 
a  feeling  of  jealousy  against  Massasoit,  who  had  been  taken 
into  open  favor  by  the  Plymouth  government.  His  sending 
the  Narragansetts  to  Neponset  may  have  been  actuated  by  a 
more  honest  purpose  than  was  credited  by  Winthrop,  recalling 
the  killing  of  Oldham  by  the  Pequots,  and  the  commission  of 
other  outrages  by  them  upon  the  Connecticut  River  settlers, 
following  so  closely  upon  the  departure  of  this  savage  em 
bassy. 

"While  the  murder  of  Oldham  was  the  work  of  the  Nehan- 
tics,  Cannonicus  and  Miantunnumoh  were  fully  exonerated 
from  any  connection  with  the  crime." 

Hubbard,  History  of  New  England,  p.  250. 

"Lieut.  Gibbons  and  Mr.  Higginson  were  sent  soon  after, 
with  Cushammakin,  the  sachem  of  the  Massachusetts,  to 
Cannonicus,  to  treat  with  him  about  the  murder  of  J.  Oldham. 
They  returned  with  acceptance  and  good  success  of  their 
business;  observing  in  the  sachem  much  state,  great  com 
mand  of  his  men,  and  marvellous  wisdom  in  his  answers;  and 
in  the  carriage  of  the  whole  treaty  clearing  himself  and  his 
neighbors  of  the  murder,  and  offering  revenge  of  it,  yet  upon 
very  safe  and  wary  conditions." 

Ibid,  p.  251. 

[347] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

gansetts  had  not  been  known  as  a  warlike  people, 
yet  there  were  not  lacking  those  who  set  all  sorts  of 
rumors  afoot,  alleging  their  hostility  toward  the 
early  settlers.  An  instance  of  this  is  afforded,  in 
1631,  when  Boston  was  thrown  into  a  sudden  fer 
ment  over  a  report  that  three  hundred  Narragan- 
setts  were  concealed  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Watertown  marshes,  whose  errand  was  hostile,  and 
who  were  biding  the  favorable  moment  when  they 
might  descend  upon  Charlestown,  which  was  just 
across  the  Mystic.1 

As  early  as  1632,  Miantunnumoh,  who  at  this 
time  had  assumed  the  leadership  of  the  Narragan- 
setts,  paid  the  English  a  visit  in  Boston,  where  he 
remained  two  nights.  He  was  known  at  that  time 
as  Mecumeh.  While  here  he  attended  church  with 
the  English,  and  it  was  during  this  absence  from  his 
warriors,  twelve  of  whom  had  kept  him  company  on 
his  journey  thither,  that  some  of  them  broke  into  a 

^utchinson  says,  "The  colonists  were  frequently  alarmed 
this  year  (1631),  but  happily  for  them  in  their  feeble,  infant 
state,  only  alarmed."  The  Tarratines  made  a  descent  on 
Agawam  (near  Ipswich) ,  and  there  was  some  trouble  between 
the  English  traders  and  some  of  the  Narragansetts  at  Sowam 
(near  Bristol) .  These  disturbances  impelled  the  settlers  to  be 
constantly  watchful. 

Ellis  says,  "There  was  never  any  serious  collision  on  the 
spot  between  the  natives  and  the  occupants  of  Boston  and  its 
immediate  neighborhood." 

Winsor's  Memorial  History  of  Boston,  p.  250. 

[348] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

house  and  committed  some  depredations  which 
were  complained  of  to  the  English  governor,  "who 
told  the  sachem  of  it  and  with  some  difficulty  caused 
him  to  make  one  of  his  sannaps  [attendants],  beat 
them."  Those  who  had  been  engaged  in  this  mis 
chief  were  immediately  sent  out  of  the  town,  after 
which  Miantunnumoh  and  those  warriors  who  had 
remained  behind  were  entertained  by  the  governor 
at  his  house,  "who  made  much  of  them."1 

That  the  English  had  nothing  to  complain  of  on 
the  part  of  the  Narragansett  sachem  is  evidenced 
by  the  alacrity  of  the  latter  in  assisting  the  English 
in  the  carrying  out  of  their  purpose  against  the 
Pequods.  Miantunnumoh  was  not  only  generous 
toward  them  as  to  his  service,  but  likewise  as  to  his 
lands  —  a  generosity  of  spirit  which  certainly  was 

^'Amongst  the  rest,  August  5,  1632,  one  of  the  great  sa 
chems  of  the  Narragansetts,  (that  most  populous  company 
of  all  the  Indians  in  those  parts,)  called  Mecumeh,  but  after 
ward  Miantunnumoh,  came  down  to  Boston  to  make  peace 
or  a  league  with  the  English,  either  of  fear  or  love.  While 
himself  and  his  followers  were  at  the  sermon,  three  of  them 
withdrew  from  the  assembly;  and  being  pinched  with  hunger, 
(for  'venter  non  habet  aures,')  broke  into  an  English  house  in 
sermon  time  to  get  victuals.  The  sagamore,  (an  honest 
spirited  fellow  as  his  after  actions  declared,)  was  hardly  per 
suaded  to  order  them  any  bodily  punishment;  but  to  prevent 
the  shame  of  his  attendants,  forthwith  sent  them  out  of  town, 
and  followed  himself  not  long  after." 

Hubbard,  History  of  New  England,  p.  144. 

[349] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

ill  requited  at  the  hands  of  the  English.1  Miantun- 
numoh's  errand  to  Boston  was  to  obtain  the  assist 
ance  of  the  English  in  the  settlement  of  some 
claims  for  grievous  wrongs  inflicted  upon  him  and 

1  The  Narragansetts  were  generously  disposed  toward  the 
English  settler.  In  the  disposition  of  their  lands,  Roger 
Williams  had  fared  well;  also  Samuel  Gorton  and  some  of 
his  friends,  who  purchased  Shawomet  (afterward  Warwick)  of 
Miantunnumoh  and  Canonicus.  The  Puritans  did  not  ap 
prove  of  Gorton  and  his  settlement,  and  they  put  Pumham^ 
sachem  of  Shawomet,  forward  to  claim  the  territory  conveyed 
to  Gorton.  Supported  and  advised  by  the  English,  Pumham 
claimed  the  chief  sachemship  of  the  Narragansetts.  The 
government  at  Massachusetts  Bay,  to  lend  to  their  contention 
the  appearance  of  disinterestedness,  which,  from  their  subse 
quent  effort  at  self- vindication,  they  "thought  there  was  a 
chance  to  doubt,"  made  entry  of  the  transaction.  "Send  for 
the  foresaid  sachems  [who  had  complained  of  Mr.  Gorton  and 
others  through  the  instigation  of  the  English]  and  upon  exam 
ination  find,  both  by  English  and  Indian  testimony,  that 
Miantunnumoh  was  only  a  usurper,  and  had  no  title  to  the 
foresaid  lands."  Drake  says  this  is  "against  the  testimony  of 
every  record  and  the  annulment  of  the  powers  fully  vested  in 
Cannonicus."  Miantunnumoh  was  the  son  of  the  sachem 
Mascus,  nephew  of  Canonicus.  Pumham  was  sachem  of 
Shawomet,  and  had  received  somewhat  of  the  consideration 
paid  by  Gorton.  To  complicate  matters,  the  Plymouth  Col 
ony  laid  claim  to  Shawomet  through  Massasoit.  In  the  con 
troversy  Pumham  was  stabbed  by  the  Wampanoag  Naw- 
washawenck,  while  the  commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies, 
after  several  years  of  delayed  consideration,  decided  "that 
though  said  tract  of  land  fell  within  Plimouth  bounds,  it 
should  henceforth  belong  to  Massachusetts."  Drake  remarks, 

[350] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

his  people  by  Wequash  Cook,  the  Pequod  spy,  and 
the  Nehantic  sachem  Ninigret.  In  this  instance 
the  Narragansett  sachem  was  sent  home  with  the 
assurance  that  he  might  right  his  own  wrongs  as 
he  pleased;1  and  it  is  to  be  noted  here  that  in  the 
following  year,  when  Ninigret  was  complained  of 
to  the  English  by  the  Long  Island  Indians, —  that 
the  former  had  committed  some  robberies  upon 
them, —  Captain  Mason  was  at  once  despatched 
from  Connecticut  with  seven  men  to  require  satis 
faction  from  the  Nehantic  sachem  forthwith,  with 
the  result  that  the  matter  was  amicably  settled.2 
This  is  the  last  we  hear  of  the  Nehantic  sachem 
until  after  the  death  of  Miantunnumoh. 

The  following  three  years  passed  without  inci 
dent.  The  overthrow  of  the  Pequods  had  opened 
up  large  areas  of  land  to  the  English  occupation; 
considerable  numbers  of  immigrants  were  arriving 
from  England;  and  the  natives,  grateful  for  their 
delivery  from  the  robberies  of  the  Pequods,  and  as 
well  impressed  with  the  power  of  the  English,  were 

that  "by  reason  of  this  conveyance  the  Puritan  government 
soon  made  evident  its  resentment  toward  Miantunnumoh, 
and  here  we  cannot  but  discover  the  germ  of  all  the  subse 
quent  disasters  of  that  sachem." 

Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  vol.  iii.,  pp.  71,  72. 

Massachusetts  State  Papers. 

Hutchinson,  and  Hazard  Papers. 

1  Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  vol.  iii.,  p.  68. 

'Ibid. 

[351] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

silent  while  this  absorption  of  their  lands  was  being 
consummated.  With  their  usual  improvidence, 
they  failed  to  forecast  the  results  of  this  establish 
ment  of  so  many  of  the  English  in  their  country; 
nor  did  it  occur  to  them,  as  a  further  result  of  this 
occupation,  that  their  hunting-grounds  would  be 
depleted  of  game,  while  their  extinction  as  a  race 
was  no  less  inevitable.  They  valued  their  lands 
lightly,  but  looked  with  childish  admiration  upon 
the  gauds  and  ornaments  and  some  common  uten 
sils  which  the  English  offered  them;  and  without 
thought  or  regret  they  accepted  the  latter  for  vast 
areas  of  lands;  nor  had  they  come  to  a  realizing 
sense  of  their  condition,  by  reason  of  this  impover 
ishment  of  natural  resources,  until  the  situation  was 
beyond  their  recall. 

In  the  treaty  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter, 
the  English  were  to  retain  the  country  of  the  Pe- 
quods  as  by  right  of  conquest;  and  being  situated 
between  the  Niantic  and  Paucatuck  streams,  which 
was  comprised  in  the  once  considerable  townships 
of  New  London,  Groton,  and  Stonington,  it  is  not 
made  clear  by  the  English  that  they  otherwise  ever 
obtained  any  of  these  lands  by  legitimate  title;  and 
while  no  one  disputed  their  title  under  these  pre 
tenses,  it  was  not  until  some  time  thereafter  that 
any  settlement  of  importance  was  erected  within 
these  boundaries. 

It  was  a  fine  country,  with  which  the  English  be 
came  better  and  better  acquainted  as  they  carried 

[352] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

on  their  hunts  for  the  refugee  Pequods.  Its  climate 
was  mild,  and  its  soil  fertile  and  well  disposed 
toward  the  seacoast  west  of  the  Connecticut  River. 
Reports  of  the  excellence  of  the  territory  reached 
Boston,  from  which  place  there  came,  in  the  spring 
of  1638,  a  colony  of  planters.  They  preempted  the 
lands  about  the  little  Bay  of  New  Haven,  which 
was  the  habitation  of  the  Quinnipiacks,  who  raised 
no  objection.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Indians  wel 
comed  these  white  strangers ;  for  the  reason,  doubt 
less,  that  their  coming  would  lend  them  greater 
security  against  the  incursion  of  marauding  savages 
to  the  westward,  especially  the  Mohawks. 

At  the  close  of  this  year,  December  4,  the  Quin 
nipiacks  entered  into  a  treaty  with  these  planters. 
Monauguin,  the  Quinnipiack  sachem,  under  this 
treaty  gave  to  the  English  all  the  lands  of  Quinni 
piack,  their  rivers,  ponds,  and  trees;  and,  for  this, 
stipulated  that  they  were  to  hunt  and  fish  through 
out  the  domain  as  had  been  their  custom;  and,  in 
addition,  a  reservation  was  made  of  a  small  tract 
on  the  east  side  of  the  harbor,  which  was  to  be  used 
by  them  as  their  planting-grounds.  The  English 
were  to  use  the  meadows,  and  cut  down  trees;  nor 
were  the  savages  to  set  traps  and  other  snares  which 
would  cause  injury  to  the  cattle  of  the  English; 
along  with  numerous  other  conditions  too  unimpor 
tant  to  be  considered  here.  They  agreed  that  each 
should  not  molest  the  other;  and  in  case  any  per 
sonal  injury  or  damage  was  committed,  suitable 

[353] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

reparation  should  be  made.  As  a  singular  part  of 
this  treaty,  a  census  of  these  people  is  mentioned, 
by  which  one  learns  that  the  men  and  youths  of  the 
Quinnipiacks  were  forty-seven,  which  is  followed 
by  a  curious  condition, —  that  the  Quinnipiacks 
would  allow  no  other  Indians  among  them  without 
first  obtaining  leave  of  the  English.  To  this  treaty 
are  attached  the  totems  of  the  sachem,  his  four  coun 
cillors,  and  his  sister.  The  sachem's  totem  was  a 
bow;  the  others  were  comprised  of  a  fish-hook,  a 
crooked  line,  a  war-club,  and  a  curious  hieroglyphic 
which  as  much  resembles  a  tobacco-pipe  as  any 
thing  else.1 

The  consideration  for  this  large  tract  of  land  was 
made  up  of  twelve  coats  of  English  trading-cloth, 
twelve  alchemy-spoons,  twelve  hatchets,  twelve 
hoes,  two  dozen  knives,  twelve  porringers,  and  four 
cases  of  French  knives  and  scissors.  From  the 
English  point  of  view,  these  considerations  repre 
sented  the  value  received.  It  is  probable  that  this 
savage  people  were  practically  ignorant  of  the  Eng 
lish  ways  of  living;  and  it  is  evident  that  it  did  not 
occur  to  them  that  the  English  would  endeavor  to 
obtain  a  living  by  any  other  means  than  trading, 
fishing,  and  hunting.  Had  they  for  a  moment  been 
gifted,  like  the  Cobbler  Keezar,  with  a  lap-stone  to 
have  given  them  the  vision  of  a  seer,  they  would 

^eForest,  p.  164,  and  Appendix,  pp.  231-236;  also  art.  iv. 
Records  of  New  Haven  Colony. 
Bacon's  Historical  Discourses. 

[354] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

have  looked  in  vain  for  the  wigwam  of  their  own 
race;  the  graves  of  their  forefathers  would  have  been 
obliterate;  and  whatever  vestige  of  themselves 
remained  would  have  become  charges  upon  the 
State.  Their  immense  forests  would  have  disap 
peared;  the  wild  animals  that  haunted  their  recesses 
would  have  vanished  with  them;  the  rivers  would 
have  been  barren  of  their  fish;  while  for  every  rude 
cabin  of  the  white  settler  would  have  arisen  a  pop 
ulous  city  from  which  stretched  away  toward  the 
hills  the  spacious  open  places  of  cultivated  lands. 
Only  the  far  horizon  of  the  hills  would  have  re 
mained  to  them  as  familiars,  upon  which  the  flying 
clouds  painted  their  pictures  of  mystery,  from 
which  they  had  many  of  their  tribal  traditions.  Had 
they  thus  been  able  to  have  broken  the  veil  of  the 
future  apart,  to  have  discounted  the  vast  ambitions 
of  this  alien  race  with  its  unscrupulous  greed  of 
aggrandizement,  its  indifference  to  the  commonest 
claims  to  humanity  wherever  the  savage  was  con 
cerned,  and  its  hypocritical  pretenses,  they  possibly 
would  have  preferred  the  Pequod  as  their  tax- 
collector  and  the  scalping-knife  of  the  Mohawk  as  a 
lesser  peril ;  for  wherever  the  white  man  set  his  foot 
the  trail  of  the  savage  was  forever  blotted  out.  In 
the  white  man's  cup  they  were  to  discover  the 
poison  for  which  their  knowledge  supplied  no 
antidote.1 

1  It  was  the  story  of  Sinbad  and  the  Old  Man  of  the  Sea  in 
[355] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

The  Puritans  of  the  New  Haven  Colony,  in  their 
peaceful  and  friendly  disposition  toward  the  sav 
ages,  have  been  likened  to  the  Quakers  of  Phila 
delphia,  between  whom  and  the  Indians  with  whom 
they  transacted  business  was  an  invariable  peace 
and  quietness.  It  is  recorded  that  between  the 
settlers  at  Quinnipiack  and  their  savage  grantors 
no  difficulty  or  dispute  arose,  so  long  as  the  In 
dians  remained  in  their  immediate  neighborhood. 
These  people  occupied  their  little  reservation  before 
mentioned,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Bay,  and  here 
they  made  habitat  for  a  long  time  in  unnoticed  se 
clusion,  making  their  living  mostly  upon  the  shell 
fish  which  were  abundant  in  the  harbor.  With  a 
fort  to  lend  them  a  sense  of  security,  they  felt  them 
selves  immune  from  invasion.  A  few  days  after  the 
Quinnipiack  treaty,  or,  to  be  more  exact,  Decem 
ber  21,  the  land  northeast  and  northwest  of  the 
tribe  was  conceded  to  the  New  Haven  settlers.  It 
comprised  an  area  of  possibly  one  hundred  thirty 
square  miles.  In  return  for  it  the  usual  considera 
tion  of  coats  and  small  tools  was  given;  and  in  this 
case,  as  with  the  Quinnipiacks,  a  small  reservation 

a  more  modern  version.  "A  few  years  back  an  Indian  was 
recognized  as  a  brother,  and  a  friend  and  ally  of  King  James; 
now  he  is  liable  to  charge  of  sedition  if  he  does  not  tamely 
submit  to  injury.  Mather  confesses  'There  were  near  ap 
proaches  to  war  between  the  English  and  several  nations  of 
Indians,  but  war  was  happily  avoided  by  an  obsta  printipiis.' " 
Freeman,  Civilization  and  Barbarism,  p.  66. 

[356] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

was  retained,  which  was  to  afford  a  living-place  for 
the  savages.1 

In  the  following  year,  in  February,  for  some 
coats,  blankets,  a  kettle,  some  hoes,  knives,  hatch 
ets,  and  a  looking-glass,  the  Paugessets  conveyed  to 
the  English  what  is  now  a  large  part  of  Milford. 
The  ancient  custom  of  delivery  by  twig  and  turf 
was  observed  in  this  case.  The  sachem  Ansantawae 
stuck  the  twig  into  the  turf  and  gave  both  into  the 
hands  of  the  English.  By  this  he  had  passed  to  the 
English  the  land  and  all  that  it  sustained.2  This 
tribe  at  this  time  was  so  numerous  that  the  colonists, 
after  laying  out  their  village,  which  compassed  a 
mile  square,  surrounded  it  with  a  palisade  —  evi 
dently  that  they  might  be  better  protected  by  re 
quiring  the  Indians  to  enter  the  town  at  certain 
designated  places. 

This  same  year  a  small  tribe  had  their  habitat  in 
what  is  now  Fairfield,  which  compassed  a  large 
tract;  but  as  the  records  of  Fairfield  were  destroyed, 

1This  treaty  was  made  on  the  part  of  the  Indians  by 
Montowese,  a  son  of  Sowheag,  the  sachem  who  was  the  cause 
of  the  foray  on  the  Wethersfield  settlement.  His  totem  was  a 
bow  with  an  arrow  fitted  to  its  string.  In  this  treaty  he  says 
that  he  obtained  his  land  from  his  deceased  mother,  which 
allows  the  inference  that  the  savages  observed  certain  rights 
in  heredity. 

Records  of  New  Haven  Colony. 

DeForest,  p.  166. 

2Lambart's  History  of  New  Haven  Colony,  p.  86. 
[357] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

the  particulars  are  unknown.  One  other  settle 
ment  was  made  during  this  year,  at  what  is  now 
Guilford,  the  date  of  its  purchase  being  October  9. 
It  probably  included  some  part  of  the  present  East 
Haven.  The  usual  consideration  was  varied  in  this 
case  by  the  addition  of  some  wampum,  some  shoes, 
stockings,  hats,  and  spoons.  As  a  part  of  the  con 
sideration,  the  savages  agreed  to  abandon  the  prop 
erty  to  the  English,  which  they  did,  joining  their 
kindred  further  to  the  west.1 

In  the  previous  pages,  the  differences  between 
Sowheag  and  the  planters  of  Wethersfield  have 
been  referred  to  in  the  relation  of  an  incident  which 
preceded,  by  a  short  interval  of  time,  the  breaking 
out  of  the  Pequod  War.  While  the  Pequod  War 
was  going  on  this  matter  was  brought  before  the 
General  Court  of  Connecticut,  which  adjudicated 
finally  that  the  settlers  of  Wethersfield  had  been  the 
aggressors.  An  offer  of  friendship  was  sent  to  the 
Waugunk  sachem  (whose  warriors  had  been  im 
plicated  in  the  raid  on  Wethersfield),  providing  he 
would  surrender  those  concerned  in  the  attack.  The 
issue  between  the  English  and  the  Pequods  being 
at  that  time  somewhat  uncertain,  Sowheag,  relying 
upon  the  former  prowess  of  the  Pequods,  and  as 
well  in  the  fighting-men  of  his  own  tribe,  declined 
to  listen  to  the  English;  but  in  August,  1639,  the 
Pequods  having  been  thoroughly  vanquished,  this 
matter  was  again  renewed,  by  the  resolve  upon  the 

1  Vide  Guilford  Records. 

[358] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

part  of  the  Connecticut  magistrates  to  mete  out  to 
Sowheag  the  same  punishment  which  had  been 
visited  upon  the  Pequods.  The  General  Court 
ordered  a  levy  of  one  hundred  men;  and  the  differ 
ent  settlements  were  notified  so  they  might  provide 
for  their  own  defence. 

It  is  evident  that  the  mantle  of  peace  set  lightly 
upon  the  English  shoulders.  This  course  of  action 
on  the  part  of  the  Connecticut  magistrates  was  not 
agreeable  to  Governor  Eaton  and  his  friends,  who 
hitherto  had  been  inclined  in  a  friendly  way  to  the 
Indians,  nor  had  their  experience  taught  them 
either  to  hate  or  fear  the  savages.  They  protested 
with  great  earnestness  against  this  design,  summing 
up  with  the  relation  of  the  great  expense  and  suffer 
ing  which  had  been  the  natural  outcome  of  the  war 
with  the  Pequods,  urging  upon  the  settlers  the  fact 
that  to  prosecute  the  development  of  the  country 
successfully,  they  not  only  needed  all  the  means  at 
their  command,  but  their  men  as  well.  The  argu 
ment  was  so  convincing  that  all  preparations  for 
war  were  laid  aside,  to  be  followed  by  an  amicable 
adjustment  of  the  differences  between  the  Wethers- 
field  settlers  and  Sowheag,  who,  having  removed 
to  Mattabesett  (Middletown) ,  was  left  to  his  own 
devices.1 

1  The  treaty  with  Montowese  —  Records  of  New  Haven 
Colony. 

Colonial  Records,  vol.  i.,  pp.  19,  31. 
Truinbull,  vol.  i.,  p.  108. 

[359] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

Following  this,  it  was  reported  to  the  court  that 
the  Pequods  were  violating  the  treaty  of  1638,  by 
reason  of  their  having  united  themselves  into  a 
considerable  body,  after  which  they  established 
themselves  anew  in  their  ancient  country.  They 
had  set  up  their  wigwams  adjacent  to  the  Nehantics 
along  the  shore  of  the  Paucatuck,  with  the  consent 
of  this  latter  tribe,  to  which  they  had  become  tribu 
tary.  They  had  not  only  broken  the  treaty,  but  had 
become  trespassers  on  that  part  of  the  Pequod 
territory  claimed  by  the  English;  and  it  was  ordered 
by  the  court  that  they  should  not  only  be  punished, 
but  should  be  ejected  from  these  lands.  John 
Mason,  with  forty  men,  who  was  at  once  joined  by 
Uncas,  with  twenty  canoes  and  one  hundred  Mohe- 
gans,  was  despatched  to  the  mouth  of  the  Pauca 
tuck,  where  he  encountered  a  party  of  three  Pe 
quods.  To  these  he  committed  a  message  which 
they  were  to  carry  to  the  Pequod  settlement,  which 
was  that  they  "must  leave  the  country  immedi 
ately  or  he  would  drive  them  away  by  force,  carry 
off  their  corn,  and  burn  their  wigwams."  These 
involuntary  messengers  pledged  themselves  to  re 
turn  with  the  answer;  but,  once  free  of  the  English, 
they  forgot  their  promise  to  Mason.  Mason,  wait 
ing  somewhat,  landed  his  men  to  make  a  sudden 
attack  upon  the  village,  where  he  captured  a  few 
old  men  who  through  their  infirmities  were  unable 
to  escape.  They  found  in  the  wigwams  an  abun 
dance  of  corn,  which  was  given  over  to  Uncas  and 

[360] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

his  people;  and,  while  engaged  in  securing  this 
plunder,  sixty  of  the  Pequods  broke  over  the  crest 
of  a  neighboring  hill,  to  charge  into  their  midst. 
The  Mohegans  awaited  this  onslaught  until  the 
Pequods  were  some  thirty  yards  from  them,  when 
the  silence  was  broken  by  a  tumult  of  war-whoops. 
Swinging  their  weapons  above  their  heads,  they 
met  the  Mohegans,  to  engage  in  the  confusion  of 
noise  and  conflict,  while  Mason  and  his  men  re 
mained  passive  spectators. 

It  was  an  almost  bloodless  conflict,  in  which  no 
lives  were  lost.  A  movement  on  the  part  of  Mason 
and  his  men  caused  the  Pequods  to  take  instant 
flight.  In  this  melee  seven  Pequods  were  captured. 
None  were  killed  by  the  English,  Mason's  anxiety 
being,  evidently,  not  to  arouse  the  Pequods  to  a 
spirit  of  revenge;  but  those  captured  were  so  insult 
ing  that  Mason  was  about  to  "make  them  a  head 
shorter"  when  Yotaash,  a  brother  of  Miantunnu- 
moh,  interceded,  saying,  "They  are  my  brother's 
men.  He  is  a  friend  to  the  English.  You  shall  have 
the  heads  of  seven  murderers  in  their  stead." 
Mason  gave  the  Pequods  into  the  hands  of  Uncas; 
but  as  to  their  final  fate,  history  is  silent. 

Nightfall  found  Mason  and  his  men  here  on  the 
bank  of  the  river,  where  they  spent  the  night;  and 
early  in  the  morning,  as  they  looked  across  the 
stream,  they  were  surprised  by  the  appearance  of  a 
considerable  body  of  Indians,  whose  number  they 
estimated  at  three  hundred.  They  at  once  caught 

[361] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

up  their  muskets,  but  the  Indians  had  disappeared. 
In  response  to  the  hail  of  the  English,  who  ex 
pressed  a  desire  to  hold  a  parley  with  them,  some 
few  of  the  savages  emerged  from  their  hiding  places 
and  came  to  the  edge  of  the  stream;  and  to  these, 
Mason,  through  his  interpreter,  related  the  reason 
for  his  apparently  hostile  expedition  among  them, 
which  was  that  the  Pequods,  having  broken  the 
Hartford  treaty  by  organizing  themselves  as  a 
separate  community,  and  as  well  by  making  their 
ancient  country  their  habitat,  had  compelled  the 
English  to  this  action.  The  reply  which  came  across 
the  waters  was,  "The  Pequots  who  live  here  are 
good  men,  and  we  will  certainly  fight  for  them  and 
protect  them."  Mason  challenged  them  at  once  by 
saying,  "Very  well;  it  is  not  far  to  the  head  of  the 
creek;  I  will  meet  you  there,  and  you  may  do  what 
you  can  at  fighting ! "  To  which  the  savages  returned, 
"We  will  not  fight  with  the  English,  for  they  are 
spirits;  but  we  will  fight  with  Uncas." 

As  it  turned  out,  the  savages  with  whom  Mason 
was  holding  his  conference  were  of  the  Nehantics 
and  Narragansetts,  who  had  interfered  in  behalf 
of  their  tributaries  in  this  effort  to  drive  them  from 
their  country.  They  were  loth,  however,  to  engage 
in  the  fight  with  the  English,  whom  they  regarded 
as  Manittos  (supernatural  beings).  In  reply  to 
this,  Mason  announced  that  he  should  occupy  him 
self  that  day  in  the  destruction  of  the  Pequod  vil 
lage,  and  the  carrying  away  of  the  Pequod  harvest; 

[362] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

moreover,  that  if  they  wished  to  attack  him  they 
could  do  so  at  their  leisure.  The  roll  of  the  English 
drums  filled  the  woods  with  their  vibrant  echo, 
while  the  English  took  up  their  work  of  devasta 
tion,  which  they  accomplished  without  further  in 
terference.  When  he  had  destroyed  the  Pequod 
village  and  loaded  his  vessel  with  the  product  of 
their  harvest,  Mason  sailed  away  up  the  river,  fol 
lowed  by  his  allies,  who  had  accumulated  for  them 
selves  a  considerable  store  of  mats,  kettles,  and 
other  property  of  the  Pequods,  which  they  had 
loaded  into  their  own  canoes  and,  as  well,  into  thirty 
others  which  the  Pequods  had  left  behind  them  in 
their  flight.1  This,  evidently,  was  the  last  foray 
against  the  Pequods,  of  whom  little  or  nothing  is 
recorded  for  almost  a  decade  after;  unless  one  may 
attach  something  of  importance  to  the  isolate  in 
stances  wherein  perhaps  punishment  was  meted 
out  to  those  who  were  regarded  by  the  English  (and 
not  always  justly)  as  worthy  of  peremptory  dis 
position.2 

1  Mason's  History. 
Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xviii.,  pp.  149-151. 

DeForest,  p.  172,  note:  "The  band  thus  broken  up  was 
probably  under  Wequash,  or  Wequash  Cook,  who,  as  we 
learn  from  Roger  Williams'  Letters  [R.  I.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  iii., 
p.  141]  had  collected,  even  during  the  previous  year,  about 
sixty  Pequots  in  the  Nehantic  country.  After  this  disaster, 
Wequash  removed  to  near  Saybrook  on  the  Connecticut, 
where  he  died  in  1642." 

2A  Connecticut  historian  notes  that  the  New  Haven  settle- 
[363] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

As  the  years  grew,  the  population  along  the  Con 
necticut  River  increased.  Purchases  of  lands  from 
the  Indians  were  being  consummated,  and  the  pur 
chase  of  1636  from  Sequassen  was  followed  by 
another  purchase  of  the  same  territory  in  1640  — 
evidently  with  the  intention  of  putting  the  Indians 
into  better  humor.  During  this  and  the  follow 
ing  year  other  convenient  and  fertile  lands  were 
bought  by  the  English;  and  it  has  been  noted  by 
one  historian  that  while  private  sales  and  gifts  at 

ment  never  had  any  quarrels  with  the  Indians  in  its  vicinity, 
but  it  was  not  without  its  instance  of  manifest  injustice. 

A  Pequot  sachem,  Nepaupuck,  was  apprehended  as  a 
criminal,  and  summarily  executed.  He  fought  the  English 
with  his  people,  and  was  noted  as  among  the  bravest  of  their 
warriors.  He  had  killed  a  Wethersfield  settler,  one  Abraham 
Finch,  and  as  well  other  white  men,  whose  hands  he  had  cut 
off  and  carried  to  Sassacus.  His  tribe  disrupted,  he  wandered 
about  for  some  time  homeless  and  probably  without  friends. 
On  one  of  these  occasions  he  happened  into  the  New  Haven 
settlement,  accompanied  by  another  Indian.  He  was  no 
sooner  recognized  than  he  was  deprived  of  his  liberty.  The 
English  bound  him,  as  they  thought,  securely;  but  by  the 
assistance  of  his  companion  he  had  nearly  gained  his  freedom 
when  he  was  fastened  in  the  stocks,  and  his  savage  acquaint 
ance  was  dismissed  with  a  flogging.  The  authorities  sum 
moned  the  Quinnipiacks  to  tell  what  they  knew  of  the  pris 
oner.  The  evidence  was  conclusive;  but  one  of  his  kinsmen 
interceded,  only  to  be  compelled  to  confess  that  the  charges 
against  the  Pequot  accused  were  true.  Nepaupuck  was  put 
upon  his  explanation,  but  declared  that  he  was  not  Nepau 
puck.  He  was  confronted  with  his  kinsman,  Mewhebato, 

[364] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

one  time  were  not  infrequent,  they  were  less  so 
during  these  early  years  than  afterward.  To  ob 
viate  any  possibility  of  fraud  being  perpetrated  upon 
the  Indians,  the  General  Court  of  Connecticut,  in 
1638,  passed  an  order  that  no  one  was  to  take  a 
conveyance  of  land  from  the  Indians  without  the 
authority  of  the  court.1  These  laws  were  not  always 
observed,  and  it  is  no  doubt  true  that  wherever  the 

and  Wattone,  a  Quinnipiack,  which  latter  asserted  that  he 
saw  the  Pequot  kill  Abraham  Finch.  The  Pequot's  identity 
was  so  thoroughly  established  that  he  confessed:  "He  knew 
he  must  die;  he  was  not  afraid  of  death;  the  English  might 
cut  his  head  off,  or  kill  him  in  any  other  way;  only  fire  was 
God,  and  God  was  angry  with  him;  wherefore  he  desired  not 
to  fall  into  his  hands."  The  Pequot  was  returned  to  the 
stocks,  to  be  brought  before  the  General  Court  the  next  day 
to  be  tried  for  his  life.  He  was  found  guilty  of  murder  and 
sentenced,  and  his  head  was  cut  off  and  fastened  upon  a  pole 
in  the  market-place. 

New  Haven  Records. 

The  crime  for  which  this  savage  was  tried  and  executed, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  was  committed  not  only  outside  the  juris 
diction  of  the  New  Haven  Colony,  but  even  before  there  was 
any  such  colony.  This  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  English 
justice.  His  head  was  set  up  on  a  pole  as  a  barbarous  token 
because  he  had  been  loyal  to  his  own  nation,  and  had  openly 
helped  to  fight  its  battles.  He  was  in  no  particular  amenable 
to  the  English  law.  By  this  farcical  trial  the  English  but  car 
ried  out  a  policy  which  was  as  unmerciful  and  relentless  as  it 
was  unjustifiable.  The  English  demanded  absolute  submis 
sion,  or  extermination. 

1  Dr.  Johnson  mentions  this  law.  He  was  at  one  time  the 
[365] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

Indians  had  reason  to  make  complaint  that  they 
had  been  unfairly  used,  or  cheated  of  their  lands, 
the  private  individual  might  be  regarded  as  the 
source  of  the  same.  Having  in  view  the  disposition 
of  the  English  to  increase  their  territorial  holdings 
at  whatever  cost,  the  question  may  arise,  to  the  un 
prejudiced  observer,  as  to  whether  the  General 
Court,  in  promulgating  this  order,  had  the  welfare 
of  the  Indians  so  much  in  view  as  the  desire  to  con 
trol  the  unoccupied  lands  of  the  colony. 

In  1640  the  Norwalk  tribe  disposed  of  the  land 
from  the  Norwalk  to  the  Saugatuck  River,  which 
extended  back  into  the  country  a  day's  walk  from 
the  sea.  The  consideration  for  the  same  was  of  the 
usual  kind,  except  that  it  varied  in  that  ten  jew's- 
harps  and  ten  fathoms  of  tobacco  might  be  regarded 
as  an  innovation.  In  the  same  year  Captain  Daniel 
Patrick,  who  had  a  hand  in  the  adventures  of  the 
English  against  the  Pequods,  secured  by  purchase 
two  islands  at  the  Norwalk  River  mouth;  also  a 

Connecticut  agent  in  England  in  the  trial  of  the  so-called 
Mohegan  Case. 

Indian  Papers,  vol.  i.,  doc.  277. 

While  it  is  distinctly  referred  to  in  at  least  one  place  of  the 
Colonial  Records,  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  recorded. 

Colonial  Records,  vol.  i.,  p.  214. 

Trumbull  mentions  the  restriction  as  having  been  adopted 
both  by  New  Haven  and  Connecticut. 

Trumbull,  History  of  Connecticut,  vol.  i.,  p.  117. 

[366] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

tract  of  land  on  its  west  shore.1  The  following 
year,  that  part  of  the  country  now  Stamford  was 
sold  for  a  lot  of  merchandise  of  the  usual  descrip 
tion,  the  value  of  which  Trumbull  estimates  to  be 
about  thirty  pounds.2 

While  to  the  observer  these  various  commodities 
are  seemingly  of  slight  value  as  compared  with  the 
large  areas  of  territory  which  in  these  later  years 
have  become  of  enormous  value,  it  will  be  remem 
bered  that  at  the  time  of  the  conveyance  these  lands 
were  undeveloped,  and  that  whatever  of  value  has 
attached  to  them  since  has  been  the  result  of  well- 
directed  labor  and  investment.  Outside  of  the 
sequestration  of  the  Pequod  lands,  the  hands  of  the 
Connecticut  settlers  seem  in  these  transactions  to 
be  comparatively  clean, —  these  lands  were  not  ob 
tained  by  coercion,  neither  by  that  process  of  de 
bauchery  which  was  practised  by  the  English  upon 
the  Indians  to  the  eastward, —  and  as  for  the  com 
modities  themselves,  they  were  brought  from  over 
the  water  at  some  expense  in  those  days,  when  a 
very  considerable  value  was  attached  to  what  in 
times  of  greater  abundance  was  an  apparently  insig 
nificant  article.  There  appears  as  a  part  of  each 
individual  consideration,  in  all  these  transactions 
with  the  savages,  a  certain  number  of  hoes  and 
hatchets  (probably  axes).  By  the  use  of  the  latter 

fall's  History  of  Nor  walk,  pp.  30,  41. 
2  President  Stiles's  Itinerary,  vol.  ii. 
[367] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

the  lands  were  to  be  cleared  of  their  forests,  and  by 
the  use  of  the  former  the  clearings  were  to  be 
wrought  into  productive  fields.  We  do  not  find  it 
a  matter  of  record  that  at  this  time  the  plow  was 
sufficiently  common  to  have  become  a  matter  of 
notice.  If  there  were  any  in  Connecticut  they  were 
so  few  in  number  as  to  hardly  take  their  place 
among  the  tools  common  to  cultivation.  It  is  a 
matter  worthy  of  curious  remark  just  here  that  in 
1637,  as  Trumbull  notes,  there  were  but  five  or  ten 
plows  in  use  in  Connecticut;  and  in  Massachusetts, 
with  its  considerable  population  for  the  time, 
there  were  only  thirty  plows  in  use  among  its  in 
habitants.1 

No  one  knows  how  long  the  Indians  had  occu 
pied  this  country,  which  at  the  coming  of  the  Eng 
lish  was  but  a  vast  and  unimproved  wilderness, 
whose  history  was  comprised  in  the  unwritten  tra 
ditions  of  its  savage  dwellers;  nor  is  it  less  uncer 
tain  as  to  the  span  of  the  centuries  to  come,  through 
which  the  same  wild,  untutored  conditions  might 
prevail.  But  the  English  came,  and  with  their  ad 
vent  began  the  rude  and  strenuous  civilization  be 
fore  which  the  Indian  was  to  disappear  ultimately. 
Whatever  of  humane  observation  may  arise  out  of 
these  considerations  as  to  whether  the  English  are 
to  be  regarded  as  trespassers  without  right  upon 
these  wild  domains  of  the  aborigine,  or  as  to 

1  Trumbull,  History  of  Connecticut,  p.  69,  note. 
[368] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

whether  they  should  have  taken  a  milder  course 
with  the  latter,  is  generally  discarded  as  an  idle 
discussion;  for  wherever  civilization  has  obtained 
a  foothold  upon  the  shores  of  barbarism  the  con 
flict  between  the  two  has  been  no  less  unequal  than 
that  which  resulted  in  the  annihilation  of  the  red 
men  and  the  redemption  of  the  wilderness,  which 
afforded  him  at  best  but  a  precarious  livelihood. 
Whatever  may  be  said  as  to  the  influence  of  the 
Christian  faith  among  the  Indians,  the  results  as 
anticipated  by  Eliot  and  those  who  wrought  with 
him  cannot  be  regarded  as  other  than  meager. 
The  Indians  were  a  superstitious  race,  without 
religious  traditions,  and  absolutely  devoid  of  those 
traits  of  character  without  which  soundness  of 
religious  principles  cannot  exist.1 

*"It  so  happens,  that  in  attempting  to  substitute  one  faith 
for  another,  in  the  minds  of  the  Indians,  that  the  one  pro 
posed  admits  of  no  better  demonstration  than  the  one  already 
possessed  by  them;  for  their  manner  of  transmitting  things  to 
be  remembered,  is  the  most  impressive  and  sacred,  as  will  be 
elsewhere  observed  in  our  work.  .  .  .  That  anything  false 
should  be  handed  down  from  their  aged  matrons  and  sires, 
could  not  be  for  a  moment  believed ;  and  hence,  that  the  stories 
of  a  strange  people  should  be  credited,  instead  of  what  they 
had  heard  from  day  to  day  from  their  youth  up,  from  those 
who  could  have  no  possible  motive  to  deceive  them,  could  not 
be  expected ;  and  therefore  no  one  will  wonder  for  a  moment 
that  the  gospel  has  met  with  so  few  believers  among  the  Indi 
ans.  All  this  aside  from  their  dealers  in  mysteries,  the  pow 
wows,  conjurers  or  priests,  as  they  are  variously  denominated, 

[369] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

It  may  be  noted  in  this  place,  in  reference  to  this 
assumption,  that  at  the  time  of  the  breaking  out  of 
King  Philip's  War,  some  forty  years  later  than  the 
period  of  which  we  are  writing,  there  were  some 
thirteen  thousand  of  what  were  known  as  the 
"  praying  Indians  "  in  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island, 
and  Connecticut.  Notwithstanding  their  religious 
intercourse  with  the  English,  and  the  teaching  of 
the  Word  which  had  been  so  conscientiously  car 
ried  on  by  Eliot  and  Mayhew;  notwithstanding  the 
softening  influences,  and  the  refinements  of  sensi 
bility  and  feeling,  by  which  one  is  made  his  broth 
er's  keeper,  to  become  the  possessor  of  the  "peace 
that  passeth  all  understanding,"  it  is  unfortunate 
as  an  illustration  of  the  futility  of  these  most  com 
mendable  efforts  toward  the  Christianizing  of  a 
savage  people  —  which  perhaps  is  the  only  re 
deeming  spot  in  the  fabric  of  events  in  the  shaping 
of  which  the  English  were  almost  the  sole  arbiters 


whose  office  is  healing  the  sick,  appeasing  the  wrath  of  the  in 
visible  spirits  by  charms  and  unintelligible  mummery.  These 
characters  took  upon  themselves,  also,  the  important  affair 
of  determining  the  happiness  each  was  to  enjoy  after  death; 
assuring  the  brave  and  the  virtuous  that  they  should  go  to  a 
place  of  perpetual  spring,  where  game  in  the  greatest  plenty 
abounded,  and  everything  that  the  most  perfect  happiness 
required.  Now,  as  a  belief  in  any  other  reKgion  promised  no 
more,  is  it  strange  that  a  new  one  should  be  slow  in  gaining 
credence  ?  " 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  pp.  110,  111. 

[370] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

—  that  after  the  breaking  out  of  hostilities  in  Swan- 
zey  the  larger  portion  of  these  "praying  Indians" 
at  once  attached  themselves  to  the  cause  of  King 
Philip.  Whether  the  difficulty  in  this  matter  was 
primarily  chargeable  to  the  soil,  or  whether  the 
seed  sown  by  Eliot  was  lacking  in  spiritual  efficacy, 
is  not  within  human  knowledge;  but  the  fact  re 
mains,  that,  like  the  leopard's  spots,  the  instinct  of 
savagery  in  the  Indian  was  ineradicable.1 

*"  Notwithstanding  one  of  the  ostensible  objects  of  nearly 
all  the  royal  charters  and  patents  issued  for  British  North 
America  was  the  Christianizing  of  the  Indians,  few  could  be 
found  equal  to  the  task  on  arriving  here;  where  wants  of  every 
kind  required  nearly  all  their  labors,  few  could  be  found  will 
ing  to  forego  every  comfort  to  engage  in  a  work  which  pre 
sented  so  many  difficulties.  Adventurers  were  those,  generally, 
who  emigrated  with  a  view  to  bettering  their  own  condition, 
instead  of  that  of  others. 

"At  length  Mr.  John  Eliot,  seeing  that  little  or  nothing 
could  be  effected  through  the  medium  of  his  own  language, 
resolved  to  make  himself  master  of  the  Indian  [tongue],  and 
then  to  devote  himself  to  their  service.  Accordingly  he  hired 
[Neal,  History  of  New  England,  vol.  i.,  p.  222]  an  old  [New  Eng 
land  Biographical  Dictionary,  art.  Eliot]  Indian,  named  Job 
Nesutan,  to  live  in  his  family  and  teach  him  his  language." 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  111. 

"It  was  in  1685  that  the  second  edition  of  the  famous 
Indian  Bible  was  completed.  From  the  following  testimony 
of  Mr.  Eliot  will  be  seen  how  much  the  success  of  that  under 
taking  was  considered  to  depend  on  James-the-printer.  In 
1683,  in  writing  to  the  Hon.  Robert  Boyle  at  London,  Mr. 
Eliot  says,  *I  desire  to  see  it  done  before  I  die,  and  I  am  so 

[371] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

It  was  through  the  train  of  events  enumerated  in 
this  chapter  that  one  is  led  to  a  consideration  of  the 
influence  of  the  Mohegan  sachem  Uncas.  After  the 
spoiling  of  the  Pequods,  Uncas  claimed  the  leader- 
deep  in  years,  that  I  cannot  expect  to  live  very  long;  besides, 
we  have  but  one  man,  viz.  the  Indian  Printer,  that  is  able  to 
compose  the  sheets,  and  correct  the  press  with  understanding.' 
In  another,  from  the  same  to  the  same,  dated  a  year  after,  he 
says,  '  Our  slow  progress  needeth  an  apology.  We  have  been 
much  hindered  by  the  sickness  the  last  year.  Our  workmen 
have  been  all  sick,  and  we  have  but  few  hands,  (at  printing,) 
one  Englishman  and  a  boy,  and  one  Indian,'  &c. 

"This  Indian  was  undoubtedly  James-the-printer.  And 
Mr.  Thomas  adds,  'Some  of  James's  descendants  were  not 
long  since  living  in  Graf  ton;  they  bore  the  surname  of  Printer' 
[History  of  Printing,  pp.  292,  293]. 

"There  was  an  Indian  named  Job  Nesutan,  who  was  also 
concerned  in  the  first  edition  of  the  Indian  Bible.  He  was  a 
valient  soldier,  and  went  with  the  English  of  Massachusetts, 
in  the  first  expedition  to  Mount  Hope,  where  he  was  slain  in 
battle.  'He  was  a  very  good  linguist  in  the  English  tongue, 
and  was  Mr.  Eliot's  assistant  and  interpreter  in  his  transla 
tion  of  the  Bible  and  other  books  in  the  Indian  language* 
[Gookin,  History  of  Praying  Indians]." 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  57. 

Eliot's  first  attempt  at  Christianizing  the  Indians  was 
made  October  28, 1646.  Near  what  was  once  Watertown  Mill, 
upon  the  south  side  of  Charles  River,  in  Roxbury,  was  the 
habitat  of  the  Nonatum  Indians,  of  whom  Waban  was  one  of 
the  leading  men.  It  was  in  Waban's  wigwam  that  Eliot  con 
ducted  his  first  service,  which  was  attended  by  a  considerable 
number  of  natives,  to  hear  what  Neal  calls  "  the  daybreak  of 
the  Gospel  in  New  England"  (Neal,  vol.  i.,  p.  223).  After 

[372] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

ship  of  their  country  by  reason  of  his  connection 
with  the  royal  Pequod  family.  He  relinquished  his 
right  to  that  portion  along  the  sea-coast  which  had 
been  appropriated  by  the  English,  but  that  lying  in- 

prayers,  Eliot  read  the  ten  commandments  and  explained 
them.  This  was  followed  by  some  pertinent  questions  on  the 
part  of  the  Indians,  one  of  which  was,  if  "Jesus  Christ  could 
understand  prayers  in  Indian?  Whether  Englishmen  were 
ever  so  ignorant  of  him  as  the  Indians? " 

November  11,  of  the  same  year,  Eliot  held  a  second  service, 
at  which  the  Indian  children  were  catechised,  and  which  was 
followed  by  a  sermon  of  an  hour's  length,  after  which  the 
Indians  put  this  question  to  him, — "How  the  English  came 
to  differ  so  much  from  the  Indians  in  their  knowledge  of  God 
and  Jesus  Christ,  since  they  had  all  at  first  but  one  father?" 
Another  wanted  to  know,  "How  it  came  to  pass  that  sea-water 
was  salt  and  river-water  was  fresh?" 

On.  the  26th  of  this  month  fell  the  third  meeting,  which 
Drake  notes  was  not  so  well  attended;  which  fact  was  due 
undoubtedly  to  the  influence  of  the  powwows  and  the  sachems, 
by  whom  threats  and  persuasions  were  used.  Eliot  had  won 
the  friendship  of  the  savages,  to  whom  came  Wampas  and 
two  others,  bringing  their  children,  whom  they  desired  to  be 
instructed  in  the  Christian  faith. 

At  the  next  meeting,  those  Indians  who  were  present 
"offered  their  children  to  be  catechised  and  instructed  by  the 
English."  Eliot  upon  this  motion  resolved  to  set  up  a  school 
among  them.  One  of  Eliot's  remarks  at  the  inception  of  this 
work  was  that  the  Indian  must  be  civilized  as  well  as  be,  if  not 
in  order  to  being,  Christianized.  This  allows  one  to  infer 
that  he  was  aware  that  something  other  than  preaching  was 
necessary  to  accomplish  the  reformation  of  this  savage  people. 

The  first  Indian  mission  was  established  at  Natick.    The 

[373] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

land  he  regarded  as  absolutely  his  own.  He  thus 
acquired  the  control  of  much  of  northern  New 
London  County,  and  as  well  the  southern  portions 
of  Tolland  and  Windham  Counties.  While  the 

following  curious  code  of  conduct  by  which  the  Indians,  be 
coming  residents  at  the  mission,  were  to  be  guided  in  their 
pursuit  after  the  civilization  of  the  English  is  as  here  quoted : 
"I. —  If  any  man  be  idle  a  week,  or  at  most  a  fortnight,  he 
shall  pay  five  shillings.  II. —  If  any  unmarried  man  shall  lie 
with  a  young  woman  unmarried,  he  shall  pay  twenty  shillings. 
III. —  If  any  man  shall  beat  his  wife,  his  hands  shall  be  tied 
behind  him,  and  he  shall  be  carried  to  a  place  of  justice  to  be 
severely  punished.  IV. —  Every  young  man,  if  not  another's 
servant,  and  if  unmarried,  shall  be  compelled  to  set  up  a  wig 
wam,  and  plant  for  himself,  and  not  shift  up  and  down  in 
other  wigwams.  V. —  If  any  woman  shall  not  have  her  hair 
tied  up,  but  hang  loose,  or  be  cut  as  men's  hair,  she  shall  pay 
five  shillings.  VI. —  If  any  woman  shall  go  with  naked 
breasts,  she  shall  pay  two  shillings.  VII. —  All  men  that  wear 
long  locks  shall  pay  five  shillings.  VIII. —  If  any  shall  kill 
their  lice  between  their  teeth,  they  shall  pay  five  shillings." 

In  the  following  January  another  mission  was  established 
at  Concord.  After  that,  several  other  meeting-places  were 
established  from  Cape  Cod  to  Narragansett  [Neal,  vol.  i.,  pp. 
226-230].  These  formed  a  circuit  which  Eliot  visited  as  he 
could.  The  arduous  character  of  his  work  may  be  inferred 
from  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  Winslow:  "I  have  not  been 
dry  night  or  day  from  the  third  day  of  the  week  to  the  sixth, 
but  so  travelled,  and  at  night  pull  off  my  boots,  wring  my 
stockings,  and  on  with  them  again,  and  so  continue.  But 
God  steps  in  and  helps"  [Magnalia,  vol.  iii.,  p.  196]. 

His  chief  obstacles  in  the  prosecution  of  his  work  were  the 
powwows  and  the  sachems,  whose  opposition  would  have 

[374] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

Pequods  were  in  power  they  had  numerous  tribu 
taries,  who,  relieved  of  the  dominancy  of  the  former, 
were  inclined  to  assume  independence.  Some, 
however,  remained  tributary  to  Uncas.  Some  were 

been  more  marked  had  they  not  been  afraid  of  the  English. 
Neal  accepts  this  as  a  condition,  "for  if  it  be  very  difficult  to 
civilize  barbarous  nations,  it  is  much  more  so  to  make  them 
Christians:  All  men  have  naturally  a  veneration  for  the  relig 
ion  of  their  ancestors,  and  the  prejudices  of  education  (among 
the  Indians  this  word  is  taken  in  an  opposite  sense  to  its  com 
mon  meaning.  Instruction  in  superstition  is  the  antithesis  of 
education)  are  insuperable  without  the  extraordinary  grace  of 
God." 

Eliot's  zeal  had  not  only  enabled  him  to  translate  the  Bible 
wholly  into  the  Indian  vernacular,  but,  as  well,  Baxter's  Call, 
Shepherd's  Sincere  Convert  and  his  Sound  Believer,  a  gram 
mar,  psalter,  some  primers  and  catechisms,  also  the  Practice 
of  Piety  (Mather's  Magnolia,  bk.  3,  p.  197).  Mather,  in 
speaking  of  the  Bible,  says,  "It  was  printed  here  at  our 
Cambridge,  and  is  the  only  Bible  that  was  printed  in  America 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world."  He  goes  on  to  observe 
that  "the  whole  translation  was  written  by  one  pen,  which 
pen,  had  it  not  been  lost,  would  certainly  have  deserved  a 
richer  case  than  was  bestowed  upon  that  with  which  Holland 
writ  his  translation  of  Plutarch."  The  vernacular  alluded  to 
was  that  of  the  Natick  or  Nipmucks. 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  114. 

Drake  also  notes  that  a  census  of  these  "praying  Indians" 
was  calculated  the  year  before  King  Philip's  War,  and  they 
were  estimated  to  have  been  at  that  time  about  1,150.  At  the 
close  of  King  Philip's  War,  1677,  Gookin  locates  there  were 
"seven  places  where  they  met  to  worship  God  and  keep  the 
Sabbath,  viz.  at  Nomantum,  Pakemit  or  Puncapag,  Cowate, 

[375] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

forced  to  submit.  Others  yielded  by  reason  of 
policy.  The  one  hundred  Pequods  allotted  to  him 
by  the  treaty  of  1638  considerably  increased  his 
tribe.  Other  Pequods,  of  whom  the  English  had  no 
account,  came  to  the  Mohegans;  and,  as  one  writer 
has  said,  "It  was  natural  that  the  Pequots,  rather 
than  fly  from  their  country  or  become  servants  to 
the  English,  or  join  their  natural  foes,  the  Narra- 
gansetts,  should  choose  to  identify  themselves  with 

alias,  Fall  of  Charles  River,  Natik,  Medfield,  Concord,  at 
Namekeak,  near  Chelmsford." 

At  the  breaking  out  of  this  war  the  "praying  Indians" 
were  removed  for  better  supervision  to  one  of  the  islands  in 
Boston  harbor;  but  upon  the  death  of  Philip  they  were  allowed 
to  return  to  their  habitats;  and  Drake  notes  that  their  en 
feebled  condition  from  this  enforced  isolation  made  them 
unable  to  carry  on  religious  worship  at  so  many  places. 
Drake  further  observes,  "We  have  seen  that  1150  *  Praying 
Indians '  were  claimed  before  the  war  in  the  end  of  the  year 
1674,  but  not  half  of  this  number  could  be  found  when  all 
such  must  come  out  of  their  towns  and  go  by  themselves  to  a 
place  of  safety."  Mr.  Gookin  says  that  "at  one  time  there 
were  about  five  hundred  upon  the  islands,  but  when  some  had 
been  employed  in  the  army,  and  other  places,  generally  such 
as  were  indifferent  to  religion,"  there  were  but  about  three 
hundred  remaining.  Six  years  after  that  disastrous  war  Mr. 
Eliot  could  claim  but  four  towns. 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  115. 

Ellis  designates  Eliot's  work  as  a  "fond  experiment"  (Me 
morial  History  of  Boston,  p.  271),  "which  movement  was 
most  seriously  affected  by  King  Philip's  War." 

Ibid,  pp.  267-273. 

[376] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

the  fragment  of  their  own  tribe,  even  though  that 
fragment  had  been  rebellious  and  hostile.  Wander 
ers  from  other  nations,  too,  collected  around  Uncas, 
and  increased  the  numbers  and  influence  of  the 
Mohegans.  Among  these  warlike  and  unsettled 
communities,  wherever  a  sachem  distinguished 
himself  by  his  abilities  and  success,  he  was  sure  to 
attract  many  adventurers  from  the  neighboring 
tribes.  Some  came  out  of  a  desire  for  protection, 
some  from  a  wish  to  distinguish  themselves  under 
so  fortunate  a  leader,  and  some,  doubtless,  because 
they  were  forced  to  come  by  the  sachem  himself  in 
his  efforts  to  increase  the  number  of  his  followers." 
Uncas  had  married  the  daughter  of  Sebequanash, 
the  Hammonassett  sachem.  By  this  action  he 
came  into  possession  of  the  lands  bordering  on  the 
sea  as  far  as  East  River,  in  Guilford;  but  in  1641 
he  had  sold  nearly  all  that  entire  tract,  and  the  most 
of  the  tribe  to  which  his  wife  belonged  had  become 
a  portion  of  the  Mohegans.1  He  had  made  himself 
so  useful  in  the  Pequod  War  that  he  had  com 
mended  himself  to  the  favor  of  the  English  colonies, 
and  his  services  were  repaid  whenever  opportunity 
happened,  with  or  without  justice,  according  to 
circumstance;  for  the  colonies  were  not  indifferent 
to  the  advantages  arising  from  having  so  powerful 
a  sachem  under  their  direction.  An  ally  in  war,  he 
was  as  useful  in  more  peaceful  times,  when  he  acted 

lGuilford  Records. 

[377] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

as  a  spy  upon  his  neighbors.  So  long  as  Uncas 
could  gratify  his  desire  for  power  and  greed,  he 
was  willing  to  act  as  such  for  the  English. 

The  treaty  of  1638  has  been  mentioned.  Another 
agreement  was  entered  into  October  8, 1640,  which 
afterward  became  a  source  of  litigation  between  the 
Mohegans  and  the  Connecticut  Colony.  The  Eng 
lish  regarded  it  as  a  deed  of  conveyance;  the  In 
dians,  as  according  the  simple  right  of  preemp 
tion,  by  which  Uncas  was  restrained  from  disposing 
of  any  portion  of  his  realty  to  any  but  the  Con 
necticut  Colony,  or  its  settlers.  The  English 
claimed  that  Uncas  had  given  them  title  to  the  en 
tire  territory  over  which  he  exercised  control,  with 
the  exception  of  that  portion  which  the  Mohegans 
were  using  as  planting-lands.  The  consideration 
for  this  alleged  conveyance  was  "five  yards  of 
cloth  and  a  few  pairs  of  stockings."1 

It  is  a  question  as  to  the  validity  of  the  Mohegan 
title,  as  it  had  been  in  his  hands  less  than  three 
years.  There  was  no  doubt  as  to  his  subjection  by 
Sassacus,  which,  according  to  the  Indian  custom, 
created  a  forfeiture  in  these  lands.  But  these  con 
siderations  had  small  effect  upon  Uncas;  for  during 
his  lifetime  the  English  were  satisfied  to  leave  the 
matter  in  a  quiescent  state,  while  his  power  and 
influence  were  augmented  to  the  extent  that  among 
the  surrounding  chieftains  he  was  not  only  looked 

^eForest,  Appendix,  art.  v. 
[378] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

upon  with  feelings  of  jealousy,  but  the  fear  of  his 
ultimate  purposes  with  them  wras  alike  entertained, 
and  not  without  reason.  The  old  spirit  of  the  feud 
actuated  the  Narragansetts,  and  for  TJncas,  who  to 
them  was  a  Pequod,  they  entertained  nothing  but 
an  inveterate  hatred.  He  was  disliked  bitterly  by 
Sequassen,  the  Connecticut  River  sachem,  who 
was  a  kinsman  and  ally  of  the  Narragansetts. 
Whatever  ambitions  the  Narragansett  sachems 
may  have  entertained  upon  the  overthrow  of  the 
Pequods,  they  were  buried  under  the  exaltation  of 
Uncas.  It  was  not  unnatural  that  these  sachems 
should  be  actuated  by  a  common  sentiment  toward 
the  Mohegan  sachem,  and  that  they  should  engage 
in  a  conspiracy  for  his  destruction.  As  an  offset  to 
this  disposition  on  the  part  of  his  enemies,  he  caused 
it  to  be  reported  to  the  English  that  the  Narragan 
setts  were  entertaining  hostile  designs  against  the 
settlers;  one  of  which  was  that  Miantunnumohwas 
plotting  to  "make  himself  sachem  of  all  the  Indians 
in  New  England.  Miantunnumoh  is  trying  to 
bring  all  the  Indians  into  a  great  conspiracy  against 
the  white  men."1 

As  a  result  of  these  stories  circulated  by  the  Mo- 
hegans  at  the  instigation  of  TJncas,  in  November, 
1640,  the  Boston  authorities  ordered  the  Narra- 


1  "When  it  was  reported,  in  1640,  that  Miantunnumoh  was 
plotting  to  cut  off  the  English,  as  will  be  found  mentioned  in 
the  account  of  Ninigret,  and  several  Englishmen  were  sent  to 

[379] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

gansett  sachem  to  appear  before  them,  forthwith. 
Miantunnumoh's  obedience  to  this  summons  was 
immediate,  and  his  prompt  compliance  was  pro 
ductive  of  a  good  impression  in  his  favor.  He  was 
interrogated  as  to  the  reports  which  had  reached 
them,  his  answers  to  which  were  well  considered; 
nor  would  he  reply  when  questioned,  unless  some  of 
his  councillors  were  present,  that  they  might  hear 
what  he  said.  His  observations  were  well  chosen, 

him  to  know  the  truth  of  the  matter,  he  would  not  talk  with 
them  through  a  Pequot  interpreter,  because  he  was  then  at 
war  with  that  nation.  In  other  respects  he  complied  with 
their  wishes,  and  treated  them  respectfully,  agreeing  to  come 
to  Boston,  for  the  gratification  of  the  government,  if  they 
would  allow  Mr.  Williams  to  accompany  him.  This  they 
would  not  consent  to,  and  yet  he  came,  agreeable  to  their  de 
sires.  We  shall  presently  see  who  best  acted  the  part  of  civil 
ized  men  in  this  affair.  He  had  refused  to  use  a  Pequot  in 
terpreter  for  good  reasons,  but  when  he  was  at  Boston,  and 
surrounded  by  armed  men,  he  was  obliged  to  submit.  'The 
governor  being  as  resolute  as  he,  refused  to  use  any  other  in 
terpreter,  thinking  it  a  dishonor  to  us  to  give  so  much  way  to 
them.'  The  great  wisdom  of  the  government  now  displayed 
itself  in  the  person  of  Gov.  Thomas  Dudley.  It  is  not  to  be 
expected  but  that  Miantunnomoh  should  resent  their  proceed 
ings;  for  to  the  above  insult  they  added  others;  'would  show 
him  no  countenance  nor  admit  him  to  dine  at  our  table,  as 
formerly  he  had  done,  till  he  had  acknowledged  his  failing, 
&c.,  which  he  readily  did/  By  their  own  folly  the  English 
had  made  themselves  jealous  of  a  powerful  chief,  and  they 
appear  ever  ready  afterwards  to  credit  evil  reports  of  him." 
Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  62. 

[380] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

and  his  perception  of  what  was  wise  and  equitable 
in  policy  was  commendable.  He  protested  that 
Uncas  and  the  Mohegans  were  the  authors  of  these 
damaging  reports  against  him,  and  offered  to  prove 
the  fact,  demanding  that  his  accusers  should  be 
brought  before  him  that  he  might  see  them  and 
hear  what  they  had  to  say;  and  he  further  demanded 
that  upon  their  inability  to  prove  their  charges,  they 
should  be  put  to  death.  "His  dignity,  his  frank 
ness,  and  the  justness  of  his  remarks  silenced  the 
complaints  of  the  magistrates;  they  acquitted  him 
of  all  suspicion  of  conspiracy,  and  he  returned  to 
his  own  country."1 

His  success  in  this  affair  could  have  no  other  in 
fluence  upon  Uncas  than  to  add  fuel  to  his  hatred. 
Uncas  had  become  to  the  Narragansetts  a  marked 

l"  In  1642,  Connecticut  became  very  suspicious  of  Mian- 
tunnomoh,  and  urged  Massachusetts  to  join  them  in  a  war 
against  him.  Their  fears  no  doubt  grew  out  of  the  consider 
ation  of  the  probable  issue  of  a  war  with  Uncas  in  his  favor, 
which  was  now  on  the  point  of  breaking  out.  Even  Massa 
chusetts  did  not  think  their  suspicions  well  founded;  yet, 
according  to  their  request,  they  sent  to  Miantunnomoh,  who, 
as  usual,  gave  them  satisfactory  answers,  and,  agreeably  to 
their  request,  came  again  to  Boston.  Two  days  were  em 
ployed  by  the  court  of  Massachusetts  in  deliberating  with 
him,  and  we  are  astonished  at  the  wisdom  of  the  great  chief, 
even  as  reported  by  his  enemies. 

"That  a  simple  man  of  nature,  who  never  knew  courts  of 
law,  should  cause  such  acknowledgments  as  follow,  from  the 
civilized  and  wise,  will  always  be  contemplated  with  intense 

[381] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

man;  for  one  evening,  not  long  after  the  return  of 
Miantunnumoh  from  Boston,  as  Uncas  was  making 
his  way  between  the  wigwams  in  his  fort,  an  arrow 
whistled  through  the  air,  by  which  he  was  wounded 
in  the  arm.  No  further  attempt  was  made  upon 
his  life  at  that  time,  and  the  wound  was  so  slight 
that  it  soon  healed.  There  was  no  clew  to  the 
would-be  assassin.  It  fell  out  later  that  a  young 
Pequod  was  discovered  to  be  the  possessor  of  a 
large  quantity  of  wampum.  Suspicion  falling  upon 

admiration.  *  When  he  came,5  says  Winthrop,  'the  court  was 
assembled,  and  before  his  admission,  we  considered  how  to 
treat  with  him,  for  we  knew  him  to  be  a  very  subtle  man.5 
When  he  was  admitted,  'he  was  set  down  at  the  lower  end  of 
the  table,  over  against  the  governor,'  but  would  not  at  any 
time  speak  upon  business  unless  some  of  his  counsellors  were 
present;  saying,  'he  would  have  them  present,  that  they  might 
bear  witness  with  him,  at  his  return  home,  of  all  his  sayings.' 
The  same  author  further  says,  '  In  all  his  answers  he  was  very 
deliberate,  and  showed  good  understanding  in  the  principles 
of  justice  and  equity,  and  ingenuity  withal.' 

"He  now  asked  for  his  accusers,  urging,  that  if  they  could 
not  establish  their  allegations,  they  should  suffer  what  he 
expected  to,  if  they  did ;  but  the  court  said  they  knew  of  none, 
that  is,  they  knew  not  whom  they  were,  and  therefore  gave  no 
credits  to  the  reports  until  they  had  advised  him  of  a  former 
agreement.  He  then  said,  'If  you  did  not  give  credit  to  them, 
why  then  did  you  disarm  the  Indians  ? '  Massachusetts  having 
just  then  disarmed  some  of  the  Merrimacks  under  some  pre 
tence.  'He  gave  divers  reasons,'  says  Gov.  Winthrop,  'why 
we  should  hold  him  free  of  any  such  conspiracy,  and  why  we 
should  conceive  it  was  a  report  raised  by  Uncas,  &c.,  and 

[382] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

him,  he  was  asked  how  he  came  by  the  wampum, 
to  which  he  could  give  no  satisfactory  reply.  At  the 
first  opportunity  he  left  the  Pequods,  to  take  refuge 

therefore  offered  to  meet  Uncas,  and  would  prove  to  his  face 
his  treachery  against  the  English,  &c.,  and  told  us  he  would 
come  to  us  at  anytime,'  although  he  said  some  had  tried  to 
dissuade  him,  saying  that  the  English  would  put  him  to  death, 
yet  he  feared  nothing,  as  he  was  innocent  of  the  charges 
against  him. 

"The  punishment  due  to  those  who  had  raised  the  accusa 
tions,  bore  heavily  upon  his  breast,  and  *  he  put  it  to  our  con 
sideration  what  damage  it  had  been  to  him,  in  that  he  was 
forced  to  keep  his  men  at  home,  and  not  suffer  them  to  go 
forth  on  hunting,  &c.,  till  he  had  given  the  English  satisfac 
tion.'  After  two  days  spent  in  talk,  the  council  issued  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  English. 

"During  the  council,  a  table  was  set  by  itself  for  the  In 
dians,  which  Miantunnomoh  appears  not  to  have  liked,  and, 
*  would  not  eat,  until  some  food  had  been  sent  him  from  that 
of  the  governor's."3 

Drake's  Book  0}  the  Indians,  pp.  62,  63. 

"That  wisdom  seems  to  have  dictated  to  Massachusetts 
in  her  answer  to  Connecticut,  must  be  acknowledged;  but 
as  justice  to  Miantunnomoh  abundantly  demanded  such  deci 
sion,  credit  in  this  case  is  due  only  to  them,  as  to  him  who 
does  a  good  act  because  it  is  his  interest  so  to  do.  They  urged 
Connecticut  not  to  commence  war  alone,  'alleging  how  dis 
honorable  it  would  be  to  us  all,  that,  while  we  were  upon 
treaty  with  the  Indians,  they  should  make  war  upon  them;  for 
they  would  account  their  act  as  our  own,  seeing  we  had  for 
merly  professed  to  the  Indians,  that  we  were  all  as  one;  and 
in  our  last  message  to  Miantunnomoh,  had  remembered  him 
again  of  the  same,  and  he  had  answered  that  he  did  so  account 

[383] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

with  Miantunnumoh,  whereupon  Uncas  reported 
the  matter  to  the  Massachusetts  authorities,  who 
charged  Miantunnumoh  with  the  instigation  of 
this  attack.  This  being  reported  to  the  Narragan- 
sett  sachem,  he  at  once  went  to  Boston,  taking 
along  with  him  the  Pequod,  who  was  examined  by 
the  magistrates  in  his  presence.  His  story  was  that, 
having  been  at  Uncas's  fort,  the  latter  engaged  him 
to  tell  the  English  that  he  had  been  engaged  by  the 

us.  Upon  receipt  of  this  our  answer,  they  forbare  to  enter 
into  a  war,  but  (it  seemed)  unwillingly,  and  not  well  pleased 
with  us.'  The  main  consideration  which  caused  Massachu 
setts  to  decide  against  war  was,  'That  all  those  informations 
(furnished  by  Connecticut)  might  arise  from  a  false  ground, 
and  out  of  the  enmity  which  was  between  the  Narraganset 
and  the  Mohigan  sachems.'  This  was  no  doubt  one  of  the 
real  causes,  and  had  Miantunnomoh  overcome  Uncas,  the 
English  would,  from  policy,  as  gladly  have  leagued  with  him 
as  with  the  latter,  for  it  was  constantly  pleaded  in  those  days, 
that  their  safety  must  depend  upon  a  union  with  some  of  the 
most  powerful  tribes. 

"There  can  be  no  doubt,  on  fairly  examining  the  case,  that 
Uncas  used  many  arts,  to  influence  the  English  in  his  favor, 
and  against  his  enemy.  In  the  progress  of  the  war  between 
the  two  great  chiefs,  the  English  acted  precisely  as  the  Indians 
have  been  always  said  to  do  —  stood  aloof,  and  watched  the 
scale  of  victory,  determined  to  join  the  conquerors." 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  63. 

"Miantunnomoh  had  a  wretched  enemy  in  Waiandance,  a 
Long  Island  sachem,  who  had  assisted  in  the  destruction  of 
the  Pequots,  at  their  last  retreat.  He  revealed  the  plots  and 
plans  of  Miantunnomoh;  and,  says  Lion  Gardener,  'he  told 

[384] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

Narragansett  sachem  to  kill  Uncas;  and  that  to 
make  his  arm  appear  as  if  it  had  been  wounded  by 
an  arrow,  he  took  the  flint  of  his  musket  and  cut 
the  flesh  of  his  arm  on  two  sides.  This  story  was 
regarded  with  distrust,  and  the  Narragansetts  fell 
under  suspicion;  and  in  a  like  degree  the  Mohegans 
were  advanced  in  the  esteem  of  the  English. 
Miantunnumoh  found  himself  under  a  deeper 
load  of  suspicion;  for  the  story  of  the  Pequod  was 
regarded  as  a  concoction  of  the  moment,  whereby 
it  was  hoped  that  the  animus  of  the  conspiracy 
might  be  removed  from  themselves.  The  magis 
trates  were  satisfied  with  the  guilt  of  the  Pequod, 
and  decided  that  he  should  be  delivered  to  Uncas. 


me  many  years  ago,'  as  all  the  plots  of  the  Narragansetts  had 
been  discovered,  they  now  concluded  to  let  the  English  alone 
until  they  had  destroyed  Uncas  and  himself,  then,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  Mohawks,  'and  Indians  beyond  the  Dutch, 
and  all  the  northern  and  eastern  Indians,  would  destroy  us, 
man  and  mother's  son."' 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  64. 

"Mr.  Gardener  relates  that  he  met  with  Miantunnomoh  at 
Meanticut,  Waiandance's  country,  on  the  east  end  of  Long 
Island.  That  Miantunnomoh  was  there,  as  Waiandance 
said,  to  break  up  the  intercourse  with  those  Indians.  There 
were  others  with  Miantunnomoh,  and  what  they  said  to 
Waiandance  was  as  follows:  — 

"You  must  give  no  more  wampum  to  the  English,  for 
they  are  no  sachems,  nor  none  of  their  children  shall  be  in 
their  place  if  they  die.  They  have  no  tribute  given  them. 
There  is  but  one  king  in  England,  who  is  over  them  all,  and 

[385] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

Miantunnumoh  protested  against  this,  using  the 
argument  that  as  the  man  was  under  his  protection 
he  should  be  allowed  to  take  him  into  his  own 
country,  where  he  would  surrender  him  to  Uncas. 

if  you  should  send  him  100,000  fathom  of  wampum  he  would 
not  give  you  a  knife  for  it,  nor  thank  you/  Then  said  Waian- 
dance, '  They  will  come  and  kill  us  all,  as  they  did  the  Pequits ; ' 
but  replied  the  Narragan setts,  'No,  the  Pequots  gave  them 
wampum  and  beaver,  which  they  loved  so  well,  but  they  sent 
it  back,  and  killed  them  because  they  had  killed  an  English 
man;  but  you  have  killed  none,  therefore  give  them  nothing.' 

"Some  time  after  Miantunnomoh  went  again  'with  a 
troop  of  men*  to  the  same  place,  and,  instead  of  receiving 
presents  as  formerly,  he  gave  presents  to  Waiandance  and 
his  people,  and  made  the  following  speech :  — 

"'Brothers,  we  must  be  one  as  the  English  are,  or  we  shall 
soon  all  be  destroyed.  You  know  our  fathers  had  plenty  of 
deer  and  skins,  and  our  plains  were  full  of  deer  and  of  turkeys, 
and  our  coves  and  rivers  were  full  of  fish.  But,  brothers,  since 
these  English  have  seized  upon  our  country,  they  cut  down 
the  grass  with  scythes,  and  the  trees  with  axes.  Their  cows 
and  horses  eat  up  the  grass,  and  their  hogs  spoil  our  beds  of 
clams;  and  finally  we  shall  starve  to  death;  therefore,  stand 
not  in  your  own  light,  I  beseech  you,  but  resolve  with  us  to 
act  like  men.  All  the  sachems  both  to  the  east  and  the  west 
have  joined  with  us,  and  we  are  all  resolved  to  fall  upon  them, 
at  a  day  appointed,  and  therefore  I  have  come  secretly  to 
you,  because  you  can  persuade  the  Indians  to  do  what  you 
will.  Brothers,  I  will  send  over  50  Indians  to  Manisses,  and 
30  to  you  from  thence,  and  take  an  100  of  Southampton 
Indians  with  an  100  of  your  own  here.  And,  when  you  see  the 
three  fires  which  will  be  made  at  the  end  of  40  days  hence,  in 
a  clear  night,  then  act  as  we  act,  and  the  next  day  fall  on  and 

[386] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

He  was  allowed  to  depart  with  the  Pequod,  who  was 
killed  by  Miantunnumoh  on  the  way  homeward. 

Whatever  motives  may  have  prevailed  in  the 
accomplishment  of  this  act  of  bad  faith,  it  is  safe  to 
assume  that  Miantunnumoh  was  not  unaware  of 
the  use  to  which  Uncas  might  have  put  the  treacher 
ous  Pequod  in  the  way  of  involving  himself  irre 
trievably  with  the  Massachusetts  authorities.  One 
is  left  to  infer  that  the  Pequod  was  killed  for  the 
reason  that  dead  men  tell  no  tales.1  From  this  on, 

kill  men,  women  and  children;  but  no  cows;  they  must  be 
killed  as  we  need  them  for  provisions,  till  the  deer  come 
again.' 

"To  this  speech  all  the  old  men  said,  'Wurregen,'  i.e.,  'It  is 
well.'  But  this  great  plot,  if  the  account  given  by  Waiandance 
be  true,  was  by  him  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  English, 
and  so  failed.  'And  the  plotter,'  says  Gardener,  'next  spring 
after,  did  as  Ahab  did  at  Ramoth-Gilead. —  So  he  to  Mohegan, 
and  there  had  his  fall.'" 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  64. 

llbid,  pp.  89,  90. 

"When  the  commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies  had  met 
in  1643,  complaint  was  made  to  them  by  Uncas,  that  Mian- 
tunnomoh  had  employed  a  Pequot  to  kill  him,  and  that  this 
Pequot  was  one  of  his  own  subjects.  He  shot  Uncas  with  an 
arrow,  and,  not  doubting  but  that  he  had  accomplished  his 
purpose,  'fled  to  the  Nanohiggansets,  or  their  confederates,' 
and  proclaimed  that  he  had  killed  him.  'But  when  it  was 
known  Uncas  was  not  dead,  though  wounded,  the  traitor  was 
taught  to  say  that  Uncas  had  cut  through  his  own  arm  with  a 
flint,  and  hired  the  Pequot  to  say  he  had  shot  and  killed  him. 
Myantinomo  being  sent  for  by  the  governor  of  the  Massa- 

[387] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

the  tide  of  animosity  between  these  two  savage 
nations  rose  higher  with  every  day,  until  the  overt 
act  was  committed  by  some  of  the  warriors  of 
Sequassen.  A  leading  Mohegan  warrior  was  killed. 
Uncas  himself  was  waylaid  with  a  shower  of  arrows 
as  he  was  paddling  down  the  Connecticut  River  in 
his  canoe.  He  complained  of  these  matters  to  the 
Hartford  authorities,  and  Governor  Haynes  went 
so  far  as  to  require  the  two  sachems  to  attend  him 
at  Hartford,  where  he  attempted  to  reconcile  them. 
Uncas  demanded  six  Narragansetts  for  every 
Mohegan  who  had  been  killed,  which  he  finally 
reduced,  at  the  urgent  solicitation  of  Governor 
Haynes,  to  the  one  who  was  acknowledged  to  have 
committed  the  crime;  and  it  fell  out,  as  well,  that 
the  murderer  was  a  man  of  some  consequence,  and 
a  relation  and  prime  favorite  of  Miantunnumoh. 
Sequassen  declined  to  deliver  him  up  to  Uncas,  pre 
ferring  to  defend  him  even  if  he  had  to  go  to  war. 
The  two  sachems  were  dismissed,  and  Uncas  was 


chusetts  upon  another  occasion,  brought  the  Pequot  with 
him:  but  when  this  disguise  would  not  serve,  and  that  the 
English  out  of  his  [the  Pequot's]  own  mouth  found  him 
guilty,  and  would  have  sent  him  to  Uncas  his  sagamore  to  be 
proceeded  against,  Myantinomo  desired  he  might  be  taken 
out  of  his  hands,  promising  [that]  he  would  send  [him]  him 
self  to  Uncas  to  be  examined  and  punished ;  but,  contrary  to 
his  promise,  and  fearing,  as  it  appears,  his  own  treachery 
might  be  discouerted,  he  within  a  day  or  two  cut  off  the 
Pequot's  head,  that  he  might  tell  no  tales/'3 

[388] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

given  the  usual  permission  to  right  his  own  wrongs, 
in  his  own  way.  Uncas  took  advantage  of  this  per 
mission  by  making  an  immediate  invasion  of  Se- 
quassen's  territory.  He  defeated  Sequassen,  killed 
seven  or  eight  of  his  warriors,  wounded  more,  then 
burned  his  wigwams,  getting  away  with  a  quantity 
of  plunder.1 

This  incident  was  not  long  in  finding  its  way  to 
the  Narragansetts,  and  it  fanned  their  animosity 
against  the  Mohegans  into  a  hotter  flame.  Mian- 
tunnumoh,  brooding  over  his  real  or  fancied  wrongs, 

144 After  this  some  attempts  were  made  to  poison  Uncas, 
and,  as  is  reported,  to  take  away  his  life  by  sorcery.  That 
being  discovered,  some  of  Sequasson's  company,  an  Indian 
sagamore  allied  to,  and  an  intimate  confederate  with  Myanti- 
nomo,  shot  at  Uncas,  as  he  was  going  down  Conectacutt 
River  with  an  arrow  or  two.  Uncas  according  to  the  foresaid 
agreement,  which  was,  in  case  of  difficulty  between  them, 
that  the  English  should  be  applied  to  as  umpires,  complained 
to  them.  They  endeavored  to  bring  about  a  peace  between 
Uncas  and  Sequasson;  but  Sequasson  would  hear  to  no  over 
tures  of  that  kind,  and  intimated  that  he  should  be  borne  out 
in  his  resolution  by  Myantinomo.  The  result  was  the  war 
of  which  we  have  given  an  account  in  the  life  of  Mian- 
tunnomoh  (post,  p.  393). 

"These  things  being  duly  weighed  and  considered,  the 
commissioners  apparently  see  that  Uncas  cannot  be  safe  while 
Miantunnomoh  lives;  but  that,  either  by  secret  treachery  or 
open  force,  his  life  will  be  still  in  danger.  Wherefore  they 
think  he  may  justly  put  such  a  false  and  bloodthirsty  enemy 
to  death;  but  in  his  own  jurisdiction,  not  in  the  English  plan 
tations.  And  advising  that,  in  the  manner  of  his  death,  all 

[389] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

was  plotting  how  he  might  obtain  his  revenge.  To 
him,  war  seemed  the  only  resource.  He  complained 
to  Governor  Haynes  that  Uncas  had  committed 
serious  acts  of  depredation  upon  Sequassen  and  his 
allies,  to  which  the  governor  replied  that  the  Eng 
lish  had  been  in  no  way  concerned  in  that  affair, 
nor  had  they  justified  Uncas  in  such  conduct  as 
he  had  intimated.  Miantunnumoh  followed  this 
complaint  with  another  directed  to  Winthrop,  the 
then  governor  of  Massachusetts,  to  whom  he  put 
the  question  directly  as  to  whether  the  Massachu 
setts  Bay  people  would  take  umbrage  should  he 
make  war  upon  the  Mohegans.  Winthrop's  reply 
was  what  might  have  been  expected  from  what  has 
gone  before,  and  was  more  to  the  point  than  the 
reply  of  Governor  Haynes.  Winthrop  replied  that 
if  Uncas  had  done  injury  to  himself  and  his  friends, 
and  persisted  in  refusing  to  make  reparation  for 
the  same,  he  might  take  his  own  course  to  repair 
his  injury.1 

It  is  not  to  be  questioned  for  a  moment  but  what 
in  these  communications  to  the  authorities  of  Con- 
mercy  and  moderation  be  showed,  contrary  to  the  practice  of 
the  Indians  who  exercise  tortures  and  cruelty.  And  Uncas 
having  hitherto  shown  himself  a  friend  to  the  English,  and  in 
this  craving  their  advice;  [therefore]  if  the  Nanohiggansitts 
Indians  or  others  shall  unjustly  assault  Uncas  for  this  execu 
tion,  upon  notice  and  request  the  English  promise  to  assist 
and  protect  him,  as  far  as  they  may,  against  such  violence." 

1  Winthrop,  vol.  ii.,  p.  129. 

[390] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

necticut  and  Massachusetts  Bay  Miantunnumoh 
made  the  most  of  his  opportunity.  It  is,  as  well, 
evident  that  the  former  did  not  regard  the  matter 
as  of  sufficient  seriousness  to  make  any  special 
investigation  as  to  the  truth  of  the  specifications 
set  out  by  the  Narragansett  sachem,  who  had  con 
formed  in  all  respects  to  the  treaty  of  1638,  one  of 
the  clauses  of  which  was,  that,  before  appealing  to 
arms,  he  should  submit  his  complaints  to  the  Eng 
lish.  Miantunnumoh  at  once  set  about  perfecting 
his  plans  by  which  the  punishment  of  Uncas  and 
the  Mohegans  might  be  accomplished.  With  a 
notable  promptness  and  energy  he  gathered  to 
gether  a  considerable  band  of  Narragansett  war 
riors,  with  which  he  made  a  rapid  and  unexpected 
advance  into  the  domains  of  the  Mohegans.  There 
is  no  question  but  what  Uncas  was  anticipating  this 
movement  on  the  part  of  Miantunnumoh,  for  the 
reason  that  he  had  posted  sentinels  along  the  hills 
of  Norwich,  from  which  points  of  vantage  the  mo 
tions  of  the  Narragansetts  might  be  clearly  dis 
cerned.  They  had  not  long  to  wait.  As  the  Narra 
gansetts  broke  the  shadows  of  the  woods  along  the 
banks  of  the  Shetucket  River,  where  it  shallows  a 
little  way  above  its  outlet  into  the  Quinnibaug,  they 
left  the  invaders  to  take  their  course,  while  they 
made  their  way  hastily,  some  to  the  sachem,  and 
some  among  the  uncollected  warriors  of  the  tribe, 
to  whom  they  communicated  the  news  of  the  in 
vasion. 

[391] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

About  five  miles  below  the  present  city  of  Nor 
wich,  on  the  shore  of  the  Thames,  was  one  of  Un- 
cas's  forts.  It  was  here,  possibly,  that  his  Indian 
runners  found  him.  So  thoroughly  had  Uncas 
taken  his  precautions,  that  the  result  of  this  news 
spread  rapidly  among  the  warriors  of  his  tribe,  and 
they  came  in  rapidly,  leaving  their  villages  and 
wigwams  in  the  care  of  their  old  men  and  squaws. 
A  large  body  of  Mohegans  being  collected  at  this 
place,  Uncas  at  once  took  up  the  advance,  with  the 
purpose  of  intercepting  Miantunnumoh,  whose 
force  is  reputed  to  have  numbered  some  nine  hun 
dred  or  a  thousand  fighting-men.  Such  as  have 
written  the  story  of  that  incident  have  credited 
him  with  about  half  that  number.  Later  historians 
have  questioned  the  accuracy  of  this  estimate. 

The  Mohegan  sachem  advanced  to  a  place  now 
known  as  the  Great  Plain,  within  the  boundaries  of 
Norwich.  It  was  some  four  miles  from  his  fort. 
Coming  to  a  rising  ground,  he  gathered  his  warriors 
about  him,  where  he  instructed  them  in  the  strata 
gem  by  which  he  anticipated  the  Narragansetts 
might  be  defeated.  These  latter  had  crossed  the 
Yantic  River,  to  soon  betray  themselves  by  de 
scending  a  small  rise  of  ground  opposite  that  which 
was  occupied  by  the  Mohegans.  Upon  this  dis 
covery,  Uncas  at  once  despatched  a  messenger  to 
Miantunnumoh  for  the  purpose  of  a  parley.  The 
Narragansett  sachem  consented,  and  the  leaders 
of  the  savages  met  on  the  open  ground  in  full  view 

[392] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

of  their  fighting-men.  Hardly  more  than  a  bow 
shot  separated  them.  Unsuspicious  of  the  treachery 
of  Uncas,  the  Narragansetts  awaited  the  result  of 
the  conference;  while  the  Mohegans  were  as  atten 
tive  upon  the  movements  of  Uncas,  whose  signal 
for  action  they  were  awaiting.  After  a  protest  upon 
the  part  of  Uncas  against  engaging  in  a  contest 
w^hich  must  result  in  the  death  of  many  of  their 
warriors,  he  suggested  to  Miantunnumoh :  "Let  us 
fight  it  out.  If  you  kill  me,  my  men  shall  be  yours; 
if  I  kill  you,  your  men  shall  be  mine."  This  prop 
osition  was  not  favorably  received  by  Miantunnu 
moh,  who  has  been  described  by  Hubbard  as  "a 
very  good  person  of  tall  stature,"  whose  courage 
was  not  to  be  questioned.  He  was  so  confident 
in  the  strength  and  prowess  of  his  warriors  that  he 
was  not  inclined  to  disappoint  them  in  making  use 
of  an  opportunity  which  seemed  so  favorable  to  his 
cause.  His  attitude  was  one  of  certainty,  and  he 
replied  abruptly  to  the  Mohegan  sachem,  "My 
men  came  to  fight,  and  they  shall  fight." 

It  was  evident  that  Uncas  knew  his  man;  for  he 
regarded  the  moment  as  having  come  when  he 
should  put  into  execution  the  plan  for  the  defeat  of 
the  Narragansetts.  No  sooner  had  Miantunnumoh 
delivered  this  reply  than  the  Mohegan  sachem 
dropped  to  the  ground,  and  his  warriors,  drawing 
their  bow-strings  to  their  shoulders,  let  fly  a  shower 
of  arrows  upon  the  Narragansetts.  The  latter  were 
taken  by  surprise,  especially  when  tineas,  leaping 

[393] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

to  his  feet  with  a  shrill  war-whoop,  led  his  men 
against  the  astonished  Narragansetts,  who  at  once 
took  refuge  in  flight.  Pursuing  their  enemy  re 
lentlessly,  the  Mohegans  drove  them  across  the 
fords  of  the  Yantic  into  the  depths  of  the  woods  be 
yond.  Miantunnumoh's  efforts  to  escape  proved 
futile.  An  English  corselet  which  he  had  put  on 
for  better  protection  against  the  weapons  of  the 
Mohegans  so  impeded  his  flight  that  the  two  Mo 
hegans  at  his  heels  might  have  captured  him;  but 
that  privilege  was  to  be  accorded  only  to  Uncas. 
The  first  of  the  Mohegan  sagamores  to  overtake 
Miantunnumoh  was  named  Tantaquigeon.  In 
Hazard's  account,  this  sachem  is  designated  as  a 
Mohegan.1  Drake  has  it  that  Miantunnumoh  was 

1  "By  way  of  preliminary  to  his  communication,  Mr.  Hyde 
says,  'The  following  facts  being  communicated  to  me  from 
some  the  ancient  fathers  of  this  town,  who  were  contemporary 
with  Uncas,  &c.'  That  before  the  settlement  of  Norwich,  the 
sachem  of  the  Narragansett  tribe  (Miantunnomoh)  had  a 
personal  quarrel  with  Uncas,  and  proclaimed  war  with  the 
Mohegans:  and  marched  with  an  army  of  900  fighting  men, 
equipped  with  bows  and  arrows  and  hatchets.  Uncas  being 
informed  by  spies  of  their  march  towards  his  seat,  Uncas 
called  his  warriors  together,  about  600,  stout,  hard  men, 
light  of  foot,  and  skilled  in  the  use  of  the  bow;  and  upon  a 
conference,  Uncas  told  his  men  that  it  would  not  do  to  let  the 
Narragansetts  come  to  their  town,  but  they  must  go  and  meet 
them.  Accordingly,  they  marched,  and  about  three  miles,  on 
a  large  plain,  the  armies  met,  and  both  halted  within  bow 
shot.  A  parley  was  sounded,  and  gallant  Uncas  proposed  a 

[394] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

intercepted  in  his  flight  by  two  of  his  own  men,  who 
hoped  by  their  treachery  to  save  their  own  lives; 
that  they  were  able  to  distinguish  him  from  the 
others  by  reason  of  the  coat  of  mail  which  he  wore; 
and  that  Miantunnumoh  was  delivered  up  by  these 
to  Uncas.  Drake  goes  still  further  into  the  matter 
by  asserting  that  Uncas  slew  these  Narragansetts 
instantly.  However  this  may  be,  Uncas,  being  a 
man  of  robust  and  powerful  physique,  seized  Mian- 
conference  with  the  Narragansett  sachem,  who  agreed.  And, 
being  met,  Uncas  said  to  his  enemy  words  to  this  effect :  *  You 
have  got  a  number  of  brave  men  with  you,  and  so  have  I. 
A'nt  it  a  pity  that  such  brave  men  should  be  killed  for  a 
quarrel  between  you  and  I  ?  Only  come  like  a  man,  as  you 
pretend  to  be,  and  we  will  fight  it  out.  If  you  kill  me,  my 
men  shall  be  yours;  but  if  I  kill  you,  your  men  shall  be  mine.' 
Upon  which  the  Narragansett  sachem  replied :  *  My  men  came 
to  fight,  and  they  shall  fight.' 

"Uncas  having  told  his  men,  that  'if  the  enemy  should 
refuse  to  fight  him,  he  would  fall  down,  and  then  they  were 
to  discharge  their  arrows  on  them,  and  fall  right  on  them  as 
fast  as  they  could ; '  this  was  done,  and  the  Mohegans  rushed 
upon  Miantunnomoh's  army  'like  lions,'  put  them  to  flight, 
and  killed  'a  number  on  the  spot.'  They  'pursued  the  rest, 
driving  some  down  ledges  of  rocks.'  The  foremost  of  Uncas' 
men  got  ahead  of  Miantunnomoh,  and  impeded  his  flight, 
drawing  him  back  as  they  passed  him,  'to  give  Uncas  oppor 
tunity  to  take  him  himself.' 

"In  the  pursuit,  at  a  place  now  called  Sachem's  Plain, 
Uncas  took  him  by  the  shoulder.  He  then  set  down,  knowing 
Uncas.  Uncas  then  gave  a  whoop,  and  his  men  returned  to 
him;  and  in  a  council  then  held,  'twas  concluded  by  them, 

[395] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

tunnumoh  by  the  shoulder,  whereupon  the  latter, 
realizing  his  powerlessness  in  the  presence  of  his 
enemy,  showed  his  submission  by  sitting  down  upon 
the  ground.  His  feelings  at  that  moment  can  only 
be  imagined.  With  the  stoicism  for  wrhich  the 
Indian  has  always  been  noted,  his  lips  were  closed. 
The  number  of  Narragansetts  reported  as  slain  in 
this  fight  was  thirty;  many  more  were  wounded; 
and  without  any  attempt  to  rescue  Miantunnumoh, 
they  continued  their  retreat  into  their  own  domain. 
Miantunnumoh  still  maintained  his  silence,  al 
though  some  of  his  warriors  were  brought  before 
him,  where  they  were  killed  by  the  Mohegans. 

that  Uncas,  with  a  guard, 'should  carry  said  sachem  to  Hart 
ford,  to  the  governor  and  magistrates,  (it  being  before  the 
charter,)  to  advise  what  they  should  do  with  him.'  'Uncas 
was  told  by  them,  that  as  there  was  no  war  between  the  Eng 
lish  and  the  Narragansetts,  it  was  not  proper  for  them  to 
intermeddle,  in  the  affair,  and  advised  him  to  take  his  own 
way.  Accordingly  they  brought  said  Narragansett  sachem 
back  to  the  same  spot  of  ground  where  he  was  took:  where 
Uncas  killed  him,  and  cut  out  a  large  piece  of  his  shoulder, 
roasted,  and  eat  it;  and  said,  "it  was  the  sweetest  meat  he 
ever  eat;  it  made  him  have  strong  heart."  There  they  bury 
him,  and  made  a  pillar,  which  I  have  seen  but  a  few  years 
since/" 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  pp.  66,  67. 

Drake  says  this  MS.  letter  of  March  1,  1833,  of  Mr.  Hyde, 
as  "a  tradition  is  a  valuable  paper,"  but  expresses  his  sur 
prise  "that  Dr.  Trumbull  should  have  inserted  it  in  his  His 
tory  of  Connecticut"  as  "a  matter  of  fact." 

[396] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

Uncas  could  not  contain  his  disappointment  that 
his  enemy  should  treat  him  with  such  silence  and 
disdain.  If  he  looked  for  any  expression  of  waver 
ing  or  fear,  he  certainly  had  reason  to  be  disap 
pointed.  He  finally  broke  the  silence  himself,  by 
asking  the  Narragansett  sachem,  "Why  do  you  not 
speak?  If  you  had  taken  me,  I  would  have  be 
sought  you  for  my  life."  The  Narragansett  made 
no  response  to  this,  and  shortly  after  Uncas  con 
veyed  his  prisoner  to  his  fort,  after  which  he  was 
taken  to  Hartford,  where  he  was  delivered1  into  the 
hands  of  the  English,  by  whom  he  was  held  as  a 
prisoner  until  his  case  should  be  disposed  of  by  the 
authorities  in  Boston. 

After  the  capture  of  Miantunnumoh  a  truce  was 
agreed  upon  between  the  Narragansetts  and  the 
Mohegans,  which  was  observed  until  the  case  of 

1<4The  war  brought  on  between  Uncas  and  Miantunnomoh 
was  not  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  English,  nor  is  it  to  be 
expected  that  they  could  with  certainty  determine  the  just 
ness  of  its  cause.  The  broil  had  long  existed,  but  the  open 
rupture  was  brought  on  by  Uncas'  making  war  upon  Sequas- 
son,  one  of  the  sachems  under  Miantunnomoh.  The  English 
accounts  say  (and  we  have  no  other)  that  about  1000  warriors 
were  raised  by  Miantunnomoh,  who  came  upon  Uncas  un 
prepared,  having  only  about  400  men;  yet,  after  an  obstinate 
battle,  in  which  many  were  killed  on  both  sides,  the  Narra 
gansetts  were  put  to  flight,  and  Miantunnomoh  taken  pris 
oner;  that  he  endeavored  to  save  himself  by  flight,  but  having 
on  a  coat  of  mail,  was  known  from  the  rest,  and  seized  by 
two  of  his  own  men,  who  hoped  by  the  treachery  to  save  their 

[397] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

the  Narragansett  sachem  was  finally  disposed  of. 
While  the  latter  was  in  captivity,  his  people  sent 
him  several  packages  of  wampum,  which  he  gave 
away.  One  relation  says  that  he  gave  some  to  Un- 
cas,  and  some  to  the  wife  of  Uncas,  and  some  to  the 
principal  councillors.  Whatever  inference  may  be 
drawn,  it  is  clear  that  his  generosity  was  possibly 
for  the  purpose  of  repaying  Uncas  for  his  fair  treat 
ment  of  him;  and  as  well,  perhaps,  as  an  induce 
ment  to  the  latter  to  refer  his  fate  to  the  decision  of 
the  English.  The  people  of  his  own  tribe,  accord 
ing  to  Hazard,  were  strenuous  in  their  assertion 
that  the  wampum  was  given  to  Uncas  as  a  ransom ; 
and  as  DeForest  says,  "They  subsequently  made 
it  a  strong  ground  of  accusation  against  the  Mo- 
hegan  sachem."1 

own  lives.  Whereupon  they  immediately  delivered  him  up 
to  the  conqueror.  Uncas  slew  them  both  instantly;  probably 
with  his  own  hand.  This  specimen  of  his  bravery  must  have 
had  a  salutary  effect  on  all  such  as  afterwards  chanced  to 
think  of  acting  the  part  of  traitors  in  their  wars;  at  least 
among  the  Narragansetts. 

"Being  brought  before  Uncas  he  remained  without  speak 
ing  one  word,  until  Uncas  spoke  to  him,  and  said,  'If  you  had 
taken  me,  I  would  have  besought  you  for  my  life.'  He  then 
took  his  prisoner  to  Hartford,  and  at  his  request  left  him  a 
prisoner  with  the  English,  until  the  mind  of  the  United 
Colonies  should  be  known  as  to  what  disposition  should  be 
made  of  him." 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  65. 

^'It  does  not  appear  from  these  records,  that  Uncas  had 
[398] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

Among  the  English  of  Rhode  Island,  Miantunnu- 
moh's  defeat  and  capture  attracted  to  him  a  great 
deal  of  sympathy  and  interest.  The  Connecticut 
colonists,  those  especially  who  had  come  from 
Massachusetts,  had  found  their  way  hither  by 
reason  of  the  religious  intolerance  of  the  Puritans, 
and  it  was  within  the  domain  of  the  Narragansetts 

any  idea  of  putting  Miantunnomoh  to  death,  but  to  extort  a 
great  price  from  his  country-men  for  his  ransom.  That  a 
large  amount  of  wampum  was  collected  for  this  purpose,  ap 
pears  certain,  but  before  it  was  paid,  Uncas  received  the  de 
cision  of  the  English,  and  then  pretended  that  he  had  made 
no  such  agreement,  or  that  the  quantity  or  quality  was  not  as 
agreed  upon,  as  will  more  at  length  be  seen  in  the  life  of 
Uncas." 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  67. 

"The  Narragansetts  had,  prior  to  the  unfortunate  decision 
against  Miantunnumoh,  paid  a  great  sum,  hoping  to  ransom 
their  chief.  They  had  also,  besides  what  had  been  paid  to 
Uncas,  given  to  the  Commissioners  £40  sterling  to  insure  his 
safety.  They  had  not  before  the  humiliating  event  of  the 
Chief's  murder,  so  much  as  dreamed  that  anyone  could  be 
faithless  in  the  case.  Faithful  themselves,  and  trusting  to  the 
honor  of  their  white  allies,  they  continued  in  all  simplicity,  to 
attribute  the  act  to  Uncas.  They  did  not  for  a  long  time  sus 
pect  the  Commissioners  of  having  secretly  corrupted  the 
false  Indian  and  employed  him  and  [his]  men  to  do  the 
bloody  deed." 

Freeman,  Civilization  and  Barbarism,  p.  75. 

Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  p.  9. 

DeForest,  pp.  192,  193,  212. 

[399] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

that  they  had  set  up  their  homes.  This  unfortunate 
sachem  was  a  savage  of  generous  characteristics, 
his  manner  was  quiet  and  dignified,  and  his  atti 
tude  towards  the  English  in  his  immediate  neigh 
borhood  had  been  that  of  the  most  friendly  and  in 
viting  disposition,  which  had  attracted  to  him 
much  good-will  on  the  part  of  these  settlers;  and 
no  doubt,  being  best  acquainted  with  the  story  of 
the  Narragansetts'  wrongs  from  their  nearness  to 
them,  they  were  confirmed  in  the  belief  that  the 
cause  of  Miantunnumoh  was  a  righteous  one,  and 
that  those  who  were  trying  to  destroy  his  power  and 
influence  with  the  English  authorities  were  entirely 
in  the  wrong. 

One  Samuel  Gorton  had  settled  at  Warwick. 
He  was  a  man  of  most  generous  instincts,  enthu 
siastic,  and,  like  many  of  similar  characteristics,  his 
actions  wrere  not  always  founded  upon  a  due  con 
sideration  of  their  results.1  He  is  said  to  have 
written  to  Uncas  commanding  him  to  give  the 
Narragansett  sachem  his  freedom,  which  letter  also 

1  Mr.  Gorton's  career  is  a  part  of  the  Indian  history  of  the 
period.  He  came  from  London  to  Boston  in  the  year  1636, 
where  he  was  not  long  after  adjudged  a  heretic  and  expelled 
from  that  Puritan  community.  He  went  to  Plymouth,  where 
the  charge  of  heresy  was  renewed,  and  he  was  chastised  pub 
licly  by  judicial  order,  after  which  he  sought  asylum  with 
Roger  Williams,  at  Providence.  The  Massachusetts  Bay 
people,  not  content  with  driving  Gorton  out  of  Plymouth, 
drove  him  out  of  Providence  upon  the  pretense  that  that  plan- 

[400] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

contained  the  threat  that  upon  his  refusal  he  would 
be  compelled  to  do  so  by  the  English.  Uncas  re 
ceived  this  letter;  and  when  it  was  explained  to 
him  by  the  messenger  who  had  brought  it,  he  was 
much  troubled  over  the  matter.  Unwilling  to  give 
Miantunnumoh  his  freedom,  for  personal  reasons 
no  doubt,  he  had  not  the  courage  to  carry  out  his 
desire  upon  him,  which  was  to  get  him  out  of  his 
way  by  killing  him.  The  letter  of  Gorton  as  well 
aroused  the  apprehension  in  his  mind  as  to  whether 
he  might  be  able  to  keep  him  safely  in  his  custody, 
perhaps  anticipating  that  an  attempt  at  a  rescue 
might  be  made  under  the  wild-headed  leadership 
of  Gorton.  In  his  dilemma,  he  conferred  with  the 
English  authorities,  taking  the  Narragansett  sa- 

tation  was  within  the  Massachusetts  jurisdiction.  Gorton  and 
eleven  others,  "in  order  to  be  yet  further  removed,"  pur 
chased  the  tract  called  Shawomet.  It  turned  out  the  land 
purchased  was  already  claimed  by  the  Massachusetts  govern 
ment,  who  asserted  it  to  be  under  its  jurisdiction.  Gorton's 
deed  was  from  Miantonomoh,  Chief  Sachem  of  the  Narra- 
gansetts,  January  17, 1642;  and  purported  to  have  been  given 
in  consideration  of  one  hundred  forty-four  fathoms  of  wam 
pum.  A  fathom  of  wampum  was  a  string  of  beads  two  yards 
in  length,  the  value  of  which  was  five  shillings,  eight  pence, 
sterling.  Gorton's  purchase  was  subsequently  known  as 
Warwick,  after  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  by  whose  friendly  in 
fluence  the  former  had  his  Rhode  Island  home  restored  to 
him  in  1648. 

Freeman,  Civilization  and  Barbarism,  p.  69. 

DeForest,  p.  193. 

[401] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

chem  along  with  him  to  Hartford,  where  he  ex 
plained  matters  —  to  his  own  satisfaction  —  to  the 
governor  and  council,  with  the  request  that  they 
indicate  to  him  the  course  he  was  to  pursue  with 
his  prisoner.  He  was  told  by  the  magistrates  that  it 
was  not  for  them  to  interfere  in  the  matter,  as  there 
was  no  open  rupture  between  the  Connecticut 
authorities  and  the  Narragansetts.  They  advised 
him,  however,  that  the  first  meeting  of  the  com 
missioners  of  the  United  Colonies  of  New  England 
would  take  place  in  the  September  following,  and 
they  suggested  to  him  that  the  case  be  referred  to 
them  for  final  disposition.1  Miantunnumoh,  well 
aware  of  the  animosity  of  the  Mohegan  sachem,  and 
distrusting  his  purpose  with  him,  appealed  to  the 
Hartford  authorities  that  the  English  would  take 
him  into  custody.  His  reasons  were  fairly  well 
founded  that  his  life  would  be  safe  in  their  hands, 
and  he  felt  equally  as  certain  that,  once  returned 
with  Uncas  to  the  Mohegan  country,  the  latter 
would  not  be  satisfied  until  he  had  removed  him 
from  the  path  of  his  ambition.  The  magistrates 
sustained  this  plea  of  the  Narragansett  sachem, 
to  which  Uncas  reluctantly  consented,  stipulating 


Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  7,  8. 
Winthrop,  vol.  ii.,  p.  131. 

As  to  Gorton's  threatening  Uncas  in  his  letter,  Winthrop 
at  first  stated  that  to  be  the  fact;  but  he  later  erased  the  pas 
sage,  as  if  in  doubt  over  the  matter. 

[402] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

that  Miantunnumoh  should  be  regarded  as  a  cap 
tive  to  the  Mohegans.1 

September  17,  1643,  the  Court  of  Commissioners 
opened  the  session  at  Boston.  The  commission  was 
made  up  of  John  Winthrop  and  Thomas  Dudley, 
of  Massachusetts;  Edward  Winslow  and  William 
Collier,  of  Plymouth;  Edward  Hopkins  and  John 
Fen  wick,  from  Connecticut;  and  Theophilus  Eaton 
and  Thomas  Gregson,  from  New  Haven.  After 
deliberating  upon  the  articles  of  confederation  of 
the  May  previous,  they  took  up  the  case  of  Mian 
tunnumoh.  Their  judgment  was  not  rapid  in  this 
matter.  They  were  apprehensive  of  the  power  of 
the  Narragansett  sachem  and,  as  well,  aware  of  his 
independent  disposition.  Prejudiced  in  favor  of 
the  Mohegan  sachem,  they  came  readily  enough  to 
the  decision  that  it  was  a  matter  of  doubtful  policy, 
and  perhaps  against  the  public  safety,  to  give  Mian 
tunnumoh  his  freedom.  They  were,  as  well,  con 
vinced  that  the  evidence  was  entirely  lacking  which 
would  justify  them  in  imposing  upon  him  a  death 
sentence.  As  was  usual  in  cases  of  this  kind,  their 
disposition  was  to  shift  the  responsibility  to  the 
shoulders  of  others,  and  they  decided  to  call  in  the 
clergy,  of  which  as  many  as  fifty  from  all  parts  of 
New  England  were  then  assembled  at  Boston  in  a 
general  convocation.  Of  these,  a  commission  was 
chosen  to  adjudicate  the  matter  in  conjunction 

Winthrop,  vol.  ii.,  p.  131. 

[403] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

with  the  Court  of  Commissioners;  and  when  they 
had  been  informed  of  such  matters  appertaining 
to  the  case  as  the  court  thought  necessary,  their 
opinion  was  desired.  These  pious  gentlemen,  evi 
dently  desirous  to  please  the  court  and  to  carry  out 
the  policy  so  thoroughly  inaugurated  in  the  Puritan 
behalf  against  the  Indians,  decided  offhand  a 
matter  at  which  not  only  laymen,  but  the  magis 
trates,  had  balked.  They  "all  agreed  that  he  ought 
to  be  put  to  death."1 

This  decision  of  the  ministers  that  Uncas  might 
commit  murder  upon  the  Narragansett  sachem 
shows  how  well  trained  they  had  been  at  the  hands 
of  Winthrop.  Lacking  the  garb  of  judicial  function, 
and  contrary  to  the  faith  which  should  have  been 
the  foundation  of  their  labors,  they  essayed  to  de 
termine  the  question  of  life  and  death,  assuming  a 
responsibility  which  those  appointed  for  that  par 
ticular  province  declined  to  perform.  It  was  an 
other  illustration  that  fools  are  prone  to  rush  in 
where  angels  fear  to  tread.  Their  excuse  was  that 
the  prisoner  was  at  the  head  of  a  dangerous  con- 

"The  manner  of  the  final  sentence  was  base.  Such  de 
cision  respecting  an  ancient  ally  has  been  justly  stigmatized 
as  both  ungenerous  and  iniquitous.  No  wonder  if  the  in 
dignation  of  Canonicus  and  Pessicus  be  stirred  when  they 
came  to  understand  the  circumstances;  nor  will  it  be  strange 
if  such  proceedings  foster  in  their  breasts  a  contempt  for 
Christianity." 

Freeman,  Civilization  and  Barbarism,  p.  173,  note. 

[404] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

spiracy,  in  which  the  safety  of  the  United  Colonies 
was  involved.  Although  this  was  a  mere  rumor, 
which  could  be  readily  traced  to  Uncas,  yet  they 
accepted  it  as  a  fact;  and,  over-credulous  as  minis 
ters  in  this  late  day  are  apt  to  be  as  to  the  adminis 
tration  of  public  affairs,  and  the  like  uncertain 
course  of  public  events,  and  possibly  for  the  time 
only  too  willing  to  serve  the  magistrates,  they  ad 
vised  the  perpetration  of  this  crime.  It  was  urged 
against  the  Narragansett  sachem  that  he  was 
"proud,  turbulent  and  restless;  that  he  had  be 
trayed  the  confidence  of  the  English  in  killing  the 
Pequot  he  had  promised  to  deliver  to  Uncas."  As 
one  of  the  insignificant  facts  upon  which  they 
hinged  their  decision,  it  was  alleged  that  he  had 
made  an  assault  upon  one  of  Pumham's  men,  and 
taken  his  wampum  from  him,  and  challenged  him 
to  make  complaint  if  he  dared  to  the  Massachusetts 
authorities.1  Pumham  was  a  sachem  who  had  sub 
mitted  to  the  English,  and  for  that  reason  he  was 
entitled  to  their  protection,  if  he  claimed  it.  They 

"  Pumham  lived  on  land  adjoining  those  sold  by  Mian* 
tonomoh,  but  Mr.  Winslow  decided  that  'Pumham  had  re 
ceived  no  consideration.'  It  is  not  probable  that  either  of  the 
Indians  conveyed  to  Boston  understood  the  nature  of  the 
alleged  transactions.  They  were  both  tributary  to  the 
sachem." 

Freeman,  Civilization  and  Barbarism,  p.  70,  note. 

It  was  a  matter  of  Indian  comity  that  the  sachem  might 
dispose  of  the  lands  of  his  tribe  as  he  saw  fit. 

[405] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

also  concluded,  in  summing  up  the  case,  that,  by 
all  Indian  customs  and  those  as  well  of  other  coun 
tries,  he  had  forfeited  his  life;  and  it  was  upon  such 
foundation  of  false,  unjust,  and  frivolous  pretense 
the  commissioners  of  the  Connecticut  Colony 
sought  a  vindication  of  their  action  in  this  disposi 
tion  of  Miantunnumoh.  It  was  false,  for  the  reason 
that  the  general  conspiracy  among  the  Indians  had 
not  been  discovered;  nor  could  it  be  discovered, 
for  the  reason  that  it  had  no  existence;  and  further, 
in  Miantunnumoh's  examination  on  that  point,  the 
Boston  magistrates  had  acknowledged  his  inno 
cence.  It  was  unjust,  because  Miantunnumoh  was 
possessed  of  an  independent  and  dignified  spirit.  It 
was  frivolous,  because  in  order  to  bolster  up  the 
case  against  the  Narragansett  sachem,  —  an  event 
of  no  importance,  especially  in  a  matter  of  a  death 
sentence,  —  they  were  driven  to  consider  a  trifling 
matter  of  alleged  personal  dispute,  which  may  have 
been  true  or  untrue,  between  Miantunnumoh  and 
a  noted  chief  of  his  own  tribe.1 

Carrying  out  this  decision  of  the  clergy,  the 
commissioners  directed  that  Uncas  should  be 
called  to  Hartford,  where  the  Narragansett  sachem 
was  to  be  surrendered  to  him,  and  where  he  was  to 
be  informed,  as  well,  that  the  latter  was  to  suffer  the 
punishment  of  death  outside  the  limits  of  the  Eng- 


charges  and  accusation  against  the  Narragansetts 
will  be  found  at  large  in  the  Records  of  the  Commissioners  of 

[406] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

lish  settlements;  that  some  of  the  English  should 
go  along  with  Uncas  and  his  party,  to  see  that  he 
performed  this  despicable  service,  "for  the  more 
full  satisfaction  of  the  commissioners."  This  sur 
render  to  Uncas  was  conditional.  If  he  refused  to 
kill  his  prisoner,  Miantunnumoh  was  not  to  be  de 
livered  to  him,  but  was  to  be  taken  to  Boston  by 
ship,  and  there  held  in  custody  until  a  further  de 
cision  of  the  court.  Uncas  was  advised  that  if  he 

the  United  Colonies.  There  is  no  more  detestable  character 
in  all  our  Indian  history  than  that  of  Uncas.  But  affairs  were 
so  conditioned  that  it  appeared  all  important  to  the  English 
of  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts  to  espouse  the  cause  of 
that  miscreant  and  thus  was  compassed  the  ruin  of  one  of  the 
noblest  Indians  of  that  or  any  other  period." 

Hubbard's  Indian  Wars,  vol.  i.,  p.  40,  note. 

"This  is  in  accordance  with  the  cold-blooded  records  of 
the  time.  The  English  had  not,  nor  did  they  claim  jurisdic 
tion  over  those  Indians  then  at  war,  and  could  not  rightfully 
interfere  in  their  quarrel.  The  battle  which  decided  the  fate 
of  Miantonimo  was  fought  in  the  end  of  the  summer,  1643. 
The  precise  day  and  month  does  not  appear.  Being  taken 
prisoner,  Miantonimo  was  conducted  to  Hartford  by  Uncas, 
and  there  held  until  the  English  should  direct  how  he  should 
be  disposed  of.  The  meeting  of  the  Commissioners  of  the 
United  Colonies  being  near  at  hand,  the  matter  was  deferred 
to  that  body.  It  met  at  Boston  on  the  7th  of  September,  1643. 
Nearly  the  first  business  brought  forward  was  that  of  the 
disposition  of  Miantonimo.  Before  coming  to  a  decision  the 
Commissioners  went  over  all  the  array  of  testimony  fur 
nished  during  several  years  by  Uncas  and  others  of  the  most 
malignant  of  Miantonimo's  enemies,  in  which  was  enumer- 

[407] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

would  carry  out  the  wishes  of  the  magistrates  in 
this  matter  Connecticut  would  undertake  the  bur 
den  of  defending  him  against  such  enemies  as 
might  thus  be  aroused  against  him;  and  as  a  coin 
cident  condition,  Plymouth  agreed  to  restore  to 
Massasoit  all  the  lands  to  the  westward  which  had 
been  encroached  upon  by  the  Narragansetts;  while 
Massachusetts  was  to  take  upon  itself  the  onus  of 
notifying  the  Narragansetts  that  the  Mohegan  sa 
chem  was  acting  under  the  direction  of  the  Eng 
lish  and  would  be  protected  by  them.  The  tribunal 
to  which  the  decision  as  to  the  fate  of  the  Narra- 
gansett  sachem  was  left,  especially  that  part  com 
posed  of  the  clergy,  suggests  a  moot  court  from  the 
point  of  view  of  sound  judicial  procedure,  and  is 
suggestive  not  only  of  the  animus  which  prevailed 
against  the  Indians,  indiscriminately,  but  as  well 

ated  all  the  vague  charges  of  plots,  treasons,  poisons  and 
sorceries.  The  commissioners  then  continue:  'These  things 
being  duely  weighed  and  considered,  we  apparently  see  that 
Uncas  cannot  be  safe  while  Miantonimo  lives,  but  that  either 
by  secret  treachery  or  open  force,  his  life  will  be  still  in  danger. 
Whereupon  they  think  he  may  justly  put  such  a  false  and 
bloodthirsty  enemy  to  death;  but  in  his  own  jurisdiccon,  not 
in  the  English  plantacons;  and  adviseing  that  in  the  manner 
of  his  death  all  mercy  and  moderation  be  shewed,  contrary 
to  the  practice  of  the  Indians,  who  exercise  tortures  and 
cruelty.'" 

Records  of  the  Commissioners,  United  Colonies,  vol.  i.,  pp. 
11,  12,  15. 

Ibid,  p.  43,  note. 

[408] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

of  the  timidity  of  the  English  wherever  the  savage 
was  concerned.1  To  these  colonies  there  was  al 
ways  impending,  along  the  horizon  of  their  living, 
the  threat  of  savage  invasion,  which  had  a  tendency 
to  beget  in  their  minds  a  host  of  baseless  appre 
hensions,  the  dominant  one  of  which  was  that  a 
general  conspiracy  among  the  Indians  against  the 
English  was  continually  existent.  It  is  a  trite  say 
ing  that  a  guilty  conscience  needs  no  accuser,  and 

l"  The  sorrowful  part  of  the  tale  is  yet  to  be  told.  The 
commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies  having  convened  at 
Boston,  'taking  into  consideration,  they  say,  what  was  safest 
and  best  to  be  done,  were  all  of  the  opinion  that  it  would  not 
be  safe  to  set  him  at  liberty,  neither  had  we  sufficient  ground 
for  us  to  put  him  to  death.'  The  awful  design  of  putting  to 
death  their  friend  they  had  not  yet  fixed  upon,  but  calling  to 
their  aid  in  council,  'five  of  the  most  judicious  elders/  'they 
all  agreed  that  he  ought  to  be  put  to  death.'  This  was  the 
final  decision,  and  to  complete  the  deed  of  darkness,  secrecy 
was  enjoined  upon  all.  And  their  determination  was  to  be 
made  known  to  Uncas  privately,  with  direction  that  he 
should  execute  him  within  his  own  jurisdiction  and  without 
torture. 

"We  will  now  go  to  the  record,  which  will  enable  us  to 
judge  of  the  justness  of  the  matter.  When  the  English  had 
determined  that  Uncas  should  execute  Miantunnomoh,  Un 
cas  was  ordered  to  be  sent  for  to  Hartford,  'with  some  con 
siderable  number  of  his  best  and  trustiest  men,'  to  take  him 
to  a  place  for  execution,  'carrying  him  into  the  next  part  of 
his  own  government,  and  there  put  him  to  death:  provided 
that  some  discreet  and  faithful  persons  of  the  English  gov 
ernment  accompany  them,  and  see  the  execution,  for  our 

[409] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

it  is  not  to  be  questioned  that  there  were  many  dis 
senters  from  the  rigorous  policy  which  the  authori 
ties  had  maintained  against  the  savage  from  the 
beginning.  So  possessed  were  the  English  with  the 
idea  of  a  common  danger  from  this  source  that  any 
unusual  noise  at  night  was  the  occasion  for  instant 
alarm.  An  instance  of  this  is  recorded  by  Hub- 
bard,  who  relates  that,  "September  19, 1642,  a  poor 

more  full  satisfaction;  and  that  the  English  meddle  not  with 
the  head  or  the  body  at  all.' 

"The  commissioners  at  the  same  time,  ordered  'that  Hart 
ford  furnish  Uncas  with  a  competent  strength  of  English  to 
defend  him  against  any  present  fury  or  assault,  of  the  Nano- 
higgunsetts  or  any  other.'  And  'that  in  case  Uncas  shall 
refuse  to  execute  justice  upon  Myantenomo,  that  then  Myan- 
tenomo  be  sent  by  sea  to  the  Massachusetts,  there  to  be  kept 
in  safe  durance  till  the  commissioners  may  consider  further 
how  to  dispose  of  him.' 

"Here  then  we  see  fully  developed  the  real  state  of  the 
case.  The  Mohegans  had  by  accident  captured  Miantunno- 
moh,  after  which  event  they  were  more  in  fear  of  his  nation 
than  before;  which  proves  beyond  doubt,  that  they  would 
never  have  dared  to  put  him  to  death,  had  they  not  been 
promised  the  protection  of  the  English. 

"When  the  determination  of  the  commissioners  and  elders 
was  made  known  to  Uncas,  he  '  readily  undertook  the  execu 
tion,  and  taking  Miantunnomoh  along  with  him,  in  the  way 
between  Hartford  and  Windsor,  (where  Uncas  hath  some 
men  dwell,)  Uncas'  brother,  following  after  Miantunnomoh, 
clave  his  head  with  an  hatchet.'  Mather  says  they  'very 
fairly  cut  off  his  head.'" 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  pp.  65,  66. 

[410] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

being,  near  the  swamp  at  Watertown  hearing  the 
howling  of  a  kennel  of  wolves,  was  so  frightened 
that  his  calls  for  help  occasioned  alarm  that  ex 
tended  remotely,  even  to  towns  near  Boston." 

Through  all  these  years  the  Puritan  community 
was  a  seething-pot  of  religious  disputes  and  ani 
mosities;  and  as  between  the  colonies  themselves, 
there  was  much  of  variant  policy,  which,  together 
with  the  continual  reaching  out  after  individual 
gain,  could  not  but  prejudice  the  Indians  against 
the  English  and,  as  well,  arouse  the  suspicions  of 
the  savages  as  to  the  ultimate  purpose  of  the  Eng 
lish  with  them.  These  conditions  gave  rise  to  en 
actments  of  courts  and  the  inserting  of  provisional 
restraints  in  treaties  between  the  English  and  the 
savages,  which  undertook  the  control  of  savage 
freedom,  especially  in  matters  of  the  disposal  of 
lands  occupied  by  the  savages.  With  the  English 
it  was  an  epoch  of  greed  and  aggrandizement.  With 
these  influences  prevailing  in  the  relations  between 
the  English  and  the  aborigine,  it  is  not  singular  that 
these  apprehensions  should  exist;  and  so  it  came 
about  that  this  decision  as  to  the  final  disposition  of 
Miantunnumoh  was  not  revealed  by  the  members 
of  the  commission  until  it  was  made  certain  that 
those  members  who  resided  in  Connecticut  and 
New  Haven  had  arrived  safely  at  their  respective 
homes.  The  reason  for  this  was,  it  was  feared  that 
Miantunnumoh's  people  would  make  an  effort  to 
intercept  them  and  to  hold  them  as  hostages  for 

[411] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

the  safety  of  their  sachem  should  they  in  any  way 
obtain  that  information.  That  such  a  purpose  had 
been  entertained  upon  the  part  of  the  Narragansetts 
was  doubtless  a  fact,  and  it  was  Miantunnumoh 
himself  who  with  remarkable  frankness  and  hon 
esty  notified  Governor  Haynes  of  the  same. 

As  soon  as  the  New  Haven  and  Connecticut  com 
missioners  were  safe  from  such  interference,  Uncas 
was  summoned  to  Hartford,  where  he  appeared 
shortly  after  with  Wawequa  and  some  of  his  favorite 
warriors.  He  was  at  once  informed  of  the  intended 
disposition  of  Miantunnumoh,  which  no  doubt 
conformed  to  his  own  desire;  and  he,  without  ob 
jection,  entered  with  them  into  immediate  plans  for 
the  murder  of  the  Narragansett  sachem,  who  was 
delivered  to  him.  Leaving  Hartford,  accompanied 
by  the  two  Englishmen  who  were  designated  to  be 
the  official  witnesses  of  the  crime,  they  wound  their 
way  over  the  forest  trail  toward  the  Mohegan  coun 
try,  until  they  came  to  the  locality  where  the  capture 
of  Miantunnumoh  was  consummated.  Leaving  the 
shadows  of  the  woods,  they  came  into  an  opening 
which  has  since  widened  into  a  stretch  of  country 
known  as  Sachem's  Plain,  where  had  taken  place, 
as  it  turned  out,  the  last  battle  of  Miantunnumoh 
with  his  enemies.  Wliat  may  have  been  the  thought 
that  occupied  the  sachem's  mind  as  he  recalled  his 
disaster, —  which  was  no  doubt  colored  by  his  mo 
mentary  conjecture  as  to  the  meaning  of  this  singu 
lar  return, —  it  was  punctuated  by  the  stealthy 

[412] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

tread  of  Wawequa  at  his  heels.  The  eyes  of  the 
latter  were  upon  his  brother.  He  was  awaiting  the 
fatal  signal.  At  a  motion  from  Tineas,  Wawequa 
swung  his  tomahawk  writh  fatal  swiftness,  and  in 
the  twinkling  of  an  eye  the  messenger  of  death 
claimed  its  victim.1 

Such  was  the  barbarous  hatred  entertained  by 
Uncas.  Sachem's  Plain  was  not  only  the  site  of 
Miantunnumoh's  assassination,  but,  as  well,  the 
place  of  his  burial.  The  place  where  they  laid  him 
was  marked  by  a  heap  of  stones,  and  it  was  the  cus 
tom  of  every  Narragansett  who  passed  that  way  to 
pay  tribute  to  the  memory  of  his  sachem  by  adding 
one  more  stone  to  this  rude  cairn.2  It  was  a  custom, 
as  well,  through  the  subsequent  years  of  the  Narra- 
gansetts,  to  make  a  pilgrimage  to  this  spot  with  every 
recurring  September, — notwithstanding  the  hostility 
which  still  existed  between  them  and  the  murderers 

1  See  note  ante,  p.  396,  as  to  the  act  of  cannibalism  alleged 
to  have  been  committed  by  Uncas. 

Drake  notes  (Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  66) :  "That  this  is  a 
tradition  may  be  inferred,  from  the  circumstance  of  an  emi 
nently  obscure  writer's  publishing  nearly  the  same  story, 
which  he  says,  in  his  book,  took  place  upon  the  death  of 
Philip.  Oneko,  he  says,  cut  out  a  pound  of  Philip's  bleeding 
body  and  ate  it."  Referring  to  Henry  TrumbulFs  book, 
Drake  asserts,  "There  is  barely  a  word  of  truth  in  it." 

See,  also,  Freeman,  Civilization  and  Barbarism,  p.  74,  note. 

2  Drake  notes  (Winthrop's  Journal,  vol.  ii.,  p.  134) :  "As  to 
the  place  of  Miantonomoh's  execution  Winthrop  seems  to 

[413] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

of  their  leader, —  where  they  indulged  in  lamenta 
tions  and  added  new  stones  to  the  pile  which  they 
consecrated  with  cries  of  mourning  and  with  ges 
tures  of  grief.  This  mound  remained  for  many 
years,  to  finally  disappear  at  the  hands  of  the 
owner  of  the  land,  by  whom  the  stones  were  used 
as  a  foundation  for  one  of  his  farm  buildings.1 

Such  was  the  end  of  this  Narragansett  sachem , 
who  had  won  the  respect  and  affection  of  English 
and  savage  alike,  except  so  far  as  they  were  appre 
hensive  of  his  power.  DeForest  says,  "There  can 
be  no  doubt  but  that  his  death  was  perfectly  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  Indian  customs."  He  says  fur 
ther,  "Had  Uncas  killed  and  scalped  him  on  the 
field  of  battle,  or  had  he  tortured  him  to  death  in 
cold  blood  on  his  own  responsibility,  no  one  would 
have  had  occasion  for  surprise."  Had  Uncas  fallen 
into  the  power  of  Miantunnumoh,  it  is  doubtful  if 
the  latter  would  have  appealed  to  the  English,  but 
the  rather  would  have  treated  him  in  accordance 
with  the  customs  of  the  Indians  toward  a  captive 

have  made  a  mistake.  It  is  not  very  likely  that  he  was  taken 
in  an  opposite  direction  from  Uncas'  own  territory,  as  Wind 
sor  was  from  Hartford.  It  is  also  unlikely  that  Uncas  had 
near  dwell  so  far  from  his  country  upon  the  Thames." 

Book  of  the  Indians,  p.  66,  note. 

Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  11-13. 

Winthrop,  vol.  ii.,  p.  134. 

DeForest,  p.  198. 

1History  of  Norwich,  p.  20. 

[414] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

enemy.  The  attitude  of  the  authorities  in  this  par 
ticular  matter  was  cowardly  in  the  extreme;  and  as 
a  single  incident  of  their  double  dealing  with  the 
Indians,  indiscriminately,  is  devoid  of  justification. 
It  was  an  unjust  and  deliberately  cruel  action,  and 
it  is  evident  that  it  was  from  fear  of  him  they  were 
led  into  the  error  of  receiving  him  into  their  hands; 
but,  once  committed  by  their  unwarranted  inter 
ference,  they  became  accomplices  of  the  savage 
Uncas,  and  by  no  stretch  of  law,  reason,  or  imagi 
nation  could  these  magistrates  be  regarded  other 
than  as  particcps  criminis.  The  excuse  urged  in 
palliation  of  this  outrage  upon  justice  was  that 
Miantunnumoh  was  hostile  to  the  colonies  —  a 
statement  which  is  not  borne  out  by  fact;  and  it 
has,  as  well,  been  suggested  that  their  action  was 
likewise  influenced  by  the  fact  that  this  sachem  had 
been  notably  friendly  to  the  settlements  of  Gorton 
and  his  community  of  Pautuxet.1 

With  Miantunnumoh  disposed  of  and  the  spec 
ter  of  a  powerful  conspiracy  stalking  before  them, 
Governor  Winthrop,  with  the  advice  of  the  com 
missioners,  sent  messengers  to  the  Narragansetts, 
who  accused  them  of  having  betrayed  their  faith 
with  the  English  and,  as  well,  of  having  agreed  with 
Miantunnumoh  in  his  purpose  to  involve  the  Eng- 

1The  career  of  Samuel  Gorton  is  very  closely  interwoven 
with  the  history  of  the  Indians  of  Connecticut.  In  1644 
Gorton  went  to  England  with  his  deed  from  the  Narragan- 

[415] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

lish  colonies  in  destruction.  They  also  served  notice 
upon  the  Narragansetts  that  Uncas  had  the  ap 
proval  of  the  English  in  the  execution  of  their  sa 
chem,  and  that  it  was  their  purpose  to  afford  him 
complete  protection.  As  has  been  noticed  already, 
the  English  recognized  Canonicus  as  having  con 
ducted  the  affairs  of  the  tribe  toward  the  colonies 
peaceably;  and  the  Narragansetts  were  informed 
that,  as  to  the  late  hostilities,  they  were  due  en 
tirely  to  the  turbulent  disposition  of  their  late 
sachem.  They  further  conveyed  to  the  Narragan 
setts  an  offer  of  peace,  which  should  not  only  extend 
to  the  English,  but  comprise  the  Mohegans  and 

setts,  by  which  the  whole  territory  was  transferred  to  the 
king  of  England.  By  order  of  Parliament,  Gorton  was  given 
peaceable  possession,  and  later  he  assumed  the  office  of  min 
ister  for  the  Warwick  Plantation.  Vide  p.  400  ante,  note  1. 

For  the  story  of  Gorton  and  his  supporters,  vide  Gorton's 
Simplicitie's  Defence. 

Winthrop,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  139,  140,  146-148,  318-320,  322, 
323. 

Winslow's  Hypocricie  Unmasked. 

Palfrey,  History  of  New  England,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  133-140, 
note,  209-214. 

Massachusetts  Records,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  51,  52,  54. 

Records  in  Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  10,  25-27. 

Coddington's  Letter  to  Winthrop,  Aug.  5,  1644,  in  Massa 
chusetts  Archives,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  4,  5. 

R.  I.  Hist.  Coll,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  110,  204. 

Johnson,  Wonder-working  Providence  of  Zion's  Saviour, 
pp.  182,  188. 

[416] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

Massasoit,  as  well  as  all  other  Indian  tribes  allied 
to  the  English.1  While  this  was  ostensibly  a  state 
ment  of  conditions  from  the  English  point  of  view, 
it  was  no  less  a  threat;  and  as  they  were  at  that  time 
without  organization  and  leadership,  they  accepted 
the  dicta  of  the  commissioners  in  apparently  passive 
obedience.  This  nation  at  this  time  was  panic- 
stricken  with  the  blow  which  had  fallen  upon  them. 
They  were  alike  sorrowful  and  uncertain  as  to  the 
future;  yet  the  English  entertained  the  idea  that 
notwithstanding  their  defeat  by  the  Mohegans,  they 
would  yet  be  victorious  over  them,  from  the  fact 
that  they  were  the  more  numerous  people  and  still 
had  Canonicus  and  other  brave  warriors  to  direct 
their  movements.  While  Canonicus  was  alive,  he 
had,  as  well,  arrived  at  a  great  age,  and  it  was  in 
evitable  the  direction  of  his  people  should  soon  pass 
into  the  hands  of  younger  and  more  active  sachems. 
With  the  tragedy  of  Sachem's  Plain,  the  relation 
of  the  wars  of  Uncas  is  not  wholly  closed;  therefore 
it  seems  necessary  to  continue  this  narrative  some 
what  further.  Miantunnumoh  was  killed  in  1643, 
and  there  is  no  doubt  that,  as  time  went  on,  the 
Narragansetts  entertained  more  deeply  their  sense 
of  injury  toward  the  Mohegans  and,  as  well,  that 
their  hatred  of  that  sachem  grew  more  implacable. 
Whatever  may  have  been  their  design,  they  did  not 
discover  it  to  the  Mohegans  until  1644,  when  they 

Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  p.  12. 

[417] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

made  an  alliance  with  the  Niantics  against  their 
ancient  enemy;  sometime  prior  to  which  event 
(wholly  unsuspicious  of  the  duplicity  of  the  English 
in  the  death  of  their  sachem),  Pessicus,  who  had 
succeeded  Miantunnumoh,  sent  to  Governor  Win- 
throp  a  valuable  gift  of  furs  and  wampum,  which 
he  accompanied  with  the  request  that  the  colonies 
remain  neutral  "in  an  expiatory  war"  which  he  felt 
himself  compelled  to  undertake  against  the  Mohe- 
gans,  which  he  regarded  as  a  sacred  duty. 

Recalling  the  old  saw,  everything  that  came  from 
the  Indians  to  the  Puritan  mill  was  "grist;"  and 
while  the  offering  of  the  Narragansett  sachem  was 
at  first  accepted,  it  was  very  coolly  suggested  to 
him  that  "peace  must  be  preserved."  This  was  not 
satisfactory  to  the  savage  chieftain,  and  he  again 
sent  to  the  Puritans,  urging  upon  them  what  to  him 
seemed  to  be  a  reasonable  request.  While  the  con 
ditions  upon  which  the  gift  depended  were  refused 
by  the  governor,  the  latter,  however,  permitted  it 
to  be  left;  and  the  sachem's  messengers  were  re 
quested  to  wait,  upon  the  plausibility  that  they 
wished  "for  time  to  advise  with  the  sachems  of  the 
tribes  involved  in  this  controversy."  The  governor 
finally  informed  Pessicus,  "If  you  or  your  people 
make  war  upon  Uncas  the  English  will  fall  upon 
you."  The  attitude  of  the  English  was  so  distaste 
ful  to  the  Narragansetts  that  they  at  once  declared 
their  intention  to  follow  their  own  design  in  the 
matter.  Their  reply  was,  "We  will  not  listen  to 

[418] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

peace  so  long  as  the  head  of  Uncas  remain  upon 
his  shoulders."  These  gifts  and  conferences  of  the 
Narragansetts  with  the  English  afford  a  sufficient 
proof  that  at  that  time  they  had  ample  confidence 
in  the  good  faith  of  the  latter;  that  their  suspicions 
were  unaroused.  There  is  no  question  as  to  the 
fidelity  of  the  Narragansetts  in  the  main  to  the 
English,  and,  being  themselves  faithful,  they  did 
not  look  for  treachery  at  the  hands  of  their  accepted 
friends.  They  were,  however,  in  the  way  of  being 
undeceived. 

It  is  to  be  noticed  that  at  this  time  the  habits  of 
the  Indians  were  undergoing  a  change.  Their  in 
tercourse  with  the  whites  so  far  had  not  been  very 
beneficial.  They  had  acquired  the  habit  of  spend 
ing  much  of  their  time  loitering  about  the  settle 
ments,  to  the  inhabitants  of  which  they  became  a 
source  of  much  annoyance.  They  entered  the 
houses  of  the  settlers  with  the  same  lack  of  formality 
that  they  would  show  in  entering  their  own  wig 
wams.  Their  barbarous  aspect  and  their  uncouth 
manners  upon  these  occasions  inspired  among  the 
women  and  children  a  sense  of  constant  insecurity. 
They  were  apt  to  desire  whatever  they  saw,  and 
were  not  above  getting  deplorably  into  debt;  but 
they  had  as  well,  in  too  many  instances,  a  disposi 
tion  to  pilfer.  They  were  not  unlike  the  debtor  of 
modern  times.  Once  the  savage  became  indebted 
to  any  considerable  amount  to  the  white  men,  he 
was  sure  to  take  his  custom  elsewhere,  at  the  slight- 

[419] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

est  suggestion  of  his  indebtedness.  The  musket  of 
the  English  settler  possessed  a  great  attraction  for 
the  savage,  and  if  by  chance  one  was  left  within  his 
reach,  he  was  not  satisfied  until  he  had  the  weapon 
in  his  hands,  upon  which  occasion  accidents  were 
not  only  possible,  but  actual. 

To  prevent  these  annoyances,  stringent  laws  were 
enacted  by  the  colonial  courts,  and  as  well  by  some 
of  the  settlements;  one  of  which  was  that  the 
handling  of  a  weapon  by  an  Indian  made  him  liable 
to  a  fine  of  a  half -fa  thorn  of  wampum.  If  his  care 
lessness  occasioned  injury  he  was  to  pay  the  cost  of 
the  cure.  If  death  was  occasioned  by  the  accident 
his  life  was  forfeited.1  In  many  of  the  towns  watch 
men  were  employed;  and  if  an  Indian  happened 
within  the  town  limits  after  dark,  and  was  sum 
moned  by  the  watch  to  surrender,  upon  refusal  he 
might  be  killed  without  hesitation.2  In  many  in 
stances  these  ordinances  were  given  to  the  sachems 
of  the  neighboring  tribes,  that  they  might  notify 
their  people  of  the  same. 

In  1642,  upon  rumor  of  a  conspiracy  against  the 
English  among  the  savages,  the  head-center  of 
which  was  located  at  Tunxis,  the  Connecticut  court 
prohibited  the  ordinary  citizen  from  admitting  a 
savage  into  his  house.  Only  magistrates  were  ex- 
cepted  from  this  restriction,  who  might  receive  a 

^Colonial  Records,  vol.  i.,  p.  52  (June,  1640). 
2Ibid,  pp.  46,  240. 

[420] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

sachem  if  he  were  not  accompanied  by  more  than 
two  men.1  This  law  was  somewhat  amended  in 
1644,  when  it  was  permissible  that  traders,  as  well 
as  magistrates,  might  entertain  sachems  when  not 
accompanied  by  over  four  of  their  people.  An  excep 
tion  was  made,  however,  in  the  case  of  Uncas.  He 
was  permitted  to  come  into  the  English  houses  with 
twenty;  and  his  brother  Wawequa,  with  ten.2 
Three  years  later  the  savages  were  prohibited  from 
hiring  lands  of  the  English,  it  being  alleged  that  by 
this  freedom  of  intercourse  they  "corrupted  the 
young  men."3  The  moral  example  of  the  savage 
was  more  corrupting  than  otherwise.  Within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  colony,  trade  with  the  Dutch  and 
French  was  prohibited.4  These  restrictions  were 
undoubtedly  with  a  view  to  preventing  the  savage 
from  acquiring  possession  of,  or  becoming  ac 
quainted  with  the  use  of,  fire-arms.  In  1650  the 
boundary  line  of  intercourse  between  the  Indian  and 
the  whites  was  so  closely  drawn  that  the  latter  were 
prohibited  by  law  from  buying  even  wood  from  the 
Indians.6  By  this  time  the  Indians  had  acquired  an 
unnatural  appetite  for  intoxicating  liquors.  Where- 
ever  they  could  obtain  it  they  drank  greedily,  and 

^Colonial  Records,  vol.  i.,  p.  73. 
*Ibid,  p.  110. 
*Ibid,  p.  149. 
*Ibid,  pp.  197-218. 
'Ibid,  p.  402. 

[421] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

in  1654  the  penalty  for  selling  a  pint  of  liquor  to  a 
savage  was  five  pounds;  for  a  sip,  even,  the  penalty 
was  forty  shillings;  and  it  has  been  noted  that,  not 
withstanding  all  these  restrictions,  as  liquor  grew 
more  abundant  in  the  colonies  the  Indians  were 
able  to  obtain  it,  and  at  a  less  expense.1 

To  go  back  somewhat :  before  the  time  when  Pes- 
sicus  was  conferring  with  the  English  and  making 
them  rich  gifts  of  furs  and  wampum,  or,  to  be  more 
exact,  in  1642,  some  Dutch  traders,  after  getting  a 
savage  drunk,  robbed  him  of  his  garb,  which  con 
sisted  of  some  valuable  beaver-skins.  In  return  for 
this  outrage  the  Indian  killed  two  white  men,  after 
which  he  betook  himself  to  a  distant  tribe  for  safety. 
The  Dutch  governor  demanded  the  surrender  of 
the  murderer,  which  demand,  not  being  promptly 
acceded  to,  finally  resulted  in  his  being  able  to  take 
revenge  into  his  own  hands.  The  following  winter 
some  Hudson  River  Indians  were  surprised  by  the 
Mohawks.  Many  were  killed;  some  were  taken 
prisoners;  while  the  remnant  of  several  hundred 
sought  protection  of  the  Dutch  at  New  Amsterdam. 
The  Dutch  governor  at  first  afforded  them  a  gen 
erous  relief,  but  it  was  not  long  before  it  occurred 
to  him  that  here  was  an  opportunity  to  avenge  the 
savage  insult  to  the  Dutch  government.  Broaching 
the  matter  to  his  councillors,  they  were  agreeable  to 
the  project,  which  was  that  these  dependents  upon 

Colonial  Records,  vol.  i.,  p.  263. 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

his  bounty  should  be  annihilated.  Surprised  in 
their  sleep  by  the  Dutch  soldiery,  over  one  hun 
dred  of  the  savages  were  massacred  in  cold  blood 
—  a  treachery  which  was  not  likely  to  go  unpun 
ished. 

The  Indians  of  the  Hudson  River  Valley,  joined 
by  some  of  the  Long  Island  tribes, —  in  all,  a  con 
federacy  of  fifteen  hundred  warriors, —  began  an 
attack  upon  the  Dutch  settlements  which  were 
scattered  along  the  Sound  from  Manhattan  down 
the  Long  Island  and  Connecticut  shores,  and  as 
well  up  the  Hudson.  These  ravages  of  the  Indians 
extended  as  far  east  as  Stamford,  and  in  this  foray 
to  the  eastward  no  discrimination  was  made  be 
tween  the  Dutch  and  the  English.  It  was  in  this 
raid  that  Ann  Hutchinson,  of  Puritan  fame,  was 
killed.1  This  was  followed  by  an  expedition  of  the 
Dutch  from  New  Amsterdam,  the  Dutch  troops 
landing  at  Greenwich.  They  had  received  infor- 

1  In  this  raid  on  Stamford  Village  the  savages  appeared  at 
the  Hutchinson  house  after  their  customed  manner,  out 
wardly  friendly;  but  a  moment  later,  once  they  had  gained  the 
inner  threshold,  the  tomahawk  was  bespattered  with  the 
blood  of  this  unfortunate  woman.  After  that  the  massacre 
became  general,  and  seventeen  of  the  Stamford  people  were 
killed.  The  live  stock  was  impounded  in  the  barns  and  out 
houses,  which  were  afterward  set  on  fire. 

DeForest,  p.  205. 

In  Boston,  Anne  Hutchinson  lived  on  the  spot  so  long  occu 
pied  by  the  Old  Corner  Book-store,  at  the  corner  of  Wash- 

[423] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

mation  of  an  Indian  encampment  in  that  vicinity, 
and  marched  all  night  in  the  hope  of  surprising  it. 

ington  and  School  Streets.  Governor  Winthrop's  home  was 
nearly  opposite,  on  the  other  side  of  Washington  Street.  She 
was  among  the  most  prominent  of  the  Boston  Antinomians. 
Antinomianism  was  to  the  Puritans  the  worst  of  heresies, 
and  was  dealt  with  most  ruthlessly.  In  Boston  Anne  Hutchin- 
son's  name  was  to  the  Puritans  the  synonym  of  this  detestable 
cult.  She  was  a  woman  of  great  excellency  and  pure  morals, 
to  whose  "person  and  conduct"  no  stain  attaches.  She  had 
a  strong  following.  The  persecution  which  ended  in  the  ex 
communication  and  banishment  of  this  gifted  woman  was 
of  the  most  bitter  character.  She  was  held  in  custody,  pend 
ing  her  trial,  in  a  house  of  the  brother  of  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Welde,  who  was  her  most  virulent  accuser  and  the  first  pas 
tor  of  Roxbury  Church.  While  there,  she  was  allowed  to  see 
neither  her  husband  nor  her  children,  unless  by  leave  of 
court.  Her  most  frequent  visitor  was  the  "holy  inquisitor." 
Francis  Drake  notes  that  Welde's  grandson  married  a  grand 
daughter  "of  the  woman  he  had  stigmatized  as  an  American 
Jezebel." 

Memorial  History  of  Boston,  vol.  i.,  pp.  173,  174,  413. 

"The  sequel  to  Mrs.  Hutchinson's  history  is  melancholy 
and  tragical.  Remaining  at  Aquidneck  until  the  decease  of 
her  husband,  she  removed  thence  to  the  *  Dutch  country' 
beyond  New  Haven;  and  the  next  year,  with  all  her  family 
save  one  daughter,  was  killed  by  the  Indians.  Her  friends 
charged  the  guilt  of  her  murder  upon  those  who  expelled  her 
from  Massachusetts;  her  enemies  pronounced  it  a  judgment 
of  God.  No  one,  it  is  presumed,  will  exonerate  either  party 
from  blame  in  this  affair.  Encompassed  with  the  privations 
of  a  wilderness  life,  and  invested  with  the  cares  of  a  young 
and  numerous  family,  the  gentleness  of  her  sex  should  have 

[424] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

They  had  their  labor  for  their  pains.  The  Indians 
had  escaped;1  but  this  expedition  was  not  entirely 

moderated  the  enthusiasm  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson's  zeal,  and 
have  restrained  it  within  those  bounds  which  can  never  be 
exceeded  without  detriment  to  the  character  of  woman,  how 
ever  extraordinary  her  genius  or  brilliant  her  accomplish 
ments.  On  the  part  of  her  judges,  too,  there  was  inexcusable 
severity,  and  unnecessary  virulence;  and,  had  they  profited 
by  their  own  experience  in  the  land  of  their  nativity,  they 
would  have  tempered  their  conduct  with  more  charity  and 
forbearance.  The  same  spirit,  doubtless,  which,  in  1646, 
adjudged  Mrs.  Oliver  'to  be  whipped  for  reproaching  the 
magistrates,'  and  which  actually  inflicted  the  disgraceful 
punishment,  and  even  added  the  indignity  of  placing  *a  cleft 
stick  upon  her  tongue  for  reproaching  the  elders/  might  have 
hurried  our  fathers  into  similar  excesses  in  their  dealings  with 
Mrs.  Hutchinson,  had  it  not  been  for  the  number  and  re 
spectability  of  her  friends." 

Barry,  History  of  Massachusetts,  First  Period,  pp.  260, 
261. 

Winthrop,  vol.  i.,  pp.  338-340. 

Morton's  Mem.,  pp.  106-108. 

*On  this  account  the  Dutch  believed  that  they  had  been 
intentionally  misdirected  by  Captain  Daniel  Patrick,  the 
same  who  led  the  Bay  soldiers  against  Sassacus,  who,  with 
famous  John  Underbill,  had  removed  from  Massachusetts 
to  Greenwich,  a  neighboring  village.  One  of  the  Dutch 
soldiers,  meeting  Patrick,  upbraided  him  with  his  supposed 
duplicity;  whereat  the  Englishman  retorted  in  kind,  and,  un 
able  to  control  his  anger,  spit  in  the  face  of  his  accuser,  who 
killed  the  former  with  a  pistol-shot.  This  was  the  end  of  the 
Puritan  Captain  Patrick. 

DeForest,  p.  206. 

[425] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

unsuccessful,  for  before  they  returned  to  Man 
hattan  they  had  surprised  a  small  Indian  village, 
which  they  destroyed. 

The  hostilities  between  the  Dutch  and  the  In 
dians  assumed  such  importance  that  a  new  relay  of 
troops  was  raised,  and  despatched  to  Connecticut, 
with  the  anticipation  of  surprising  and  destroying 
a  large  Indian  encampment  in  that  vicinity.  This 
body  of  soldiers  was  under  command  of  Captain 
Underbill  and  Ensign  Van  Dyck.  They  found  the 
encampment,  and  Underbill,  recalling  Mason  at 
Fort  Mystic,  wanted  the  village  fired.  It  was  a 
night  surprise,  and  those  savages  who  escaped  the 
flame  of  their  blazing  wigwams  were  compelled  to 
return  to  them  by  the  guns  and  sabers  of  the  Dutch. 
It  was  afterward  asserted  that  in  this  foray  five 
hundred  savages  were  killed, —  men,  women,  and 
children, —  and  that  only  eight  escaped.  The  Dutch 
camped  that  night  by  the  glowing  embers  of  this 
carnage,  and  the  following  morning  set  out  for 
Stamford,  which  they  reached  in  the  late  forenoon. 
The  gratitude  of  the  Dutch  for  this  victory  led 
them  to  express  themselves  much  as  had  the  Puri 
tans  upon  receiving  the  news  of  the  Fort  Mystic 
massacre.  Public  thanksgivings  were  ordered  at 
New  Amsterdam,  where  the  event  was  celebrated 
as  a  special  act  of  Providence.  This  incident  closed 
the  war  between  the  Dutch  and  the  Indians;  the 
latter  invoking  the  good  offices  of  Underbill,  whose 
hand  had  fallen  thus  heavy  upon  them,  with  the 

[426] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

result  that  in  April  of  this  year  a  peace  was  agreed 
upon.1 

This  was  followed  by  an  outrage  committed  at 
Stamford  in  daylight.  An  Indian,  entering  one  of 
the  Stamford  houses,  found  there  a  woman  alone 
with  her  child.  Leaving  her  for  dead,  he  plundered 
the  house  and  went  away.  This  was  followed  by 
other  minor  offences  upon  the  part  of  the  savage, 
whereat  the  settlers  were  very  much  alarmed,  and 
were  finally  led  to  request  a  conference  by  which 
they  hoped  to  obtain  some  reparation.  The  savages 
paid  no  attention  to  their  demands,  and,  leaving 
their  fields  untilled,  they  indicated  their  continued 
hostility  by  discharging  muskets  in  proximity  to  the 
settlements,  and  by  assuming,  whenever  they  ap 
peared  among  the  whites,  a  turbulent  and  threat 
ening  aspect.  They  did  not  conceal  their  design  to 
make  a  later  attack  upon  the  English,  and  the  set 
tlers  at  once  called  upon  the  Hartford  and  New 
Haven  authorities  for  aid.  In  many  places  the 
English  posted  guards  day  and  night.  New  Haven 
responded  with  alacrity,  raising  a  small  contingent 
of  soldiers  which  was  immediately  despatched  to  the 
settlements  most  in  danger,  and  another  and  more 
strenuous  demand  was  made  for  the  surrender  of 
Ashquash,  who  had  murdered  an  English  servant 
near  Fairfield.  While  the  Stamford  woman  recov- 

1 0'Callaghan's  History  of  New  Netherlands,  bk.  iii.,  chaps, 
iii.,  iv.,  and  v. 

[427] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

ered,  her  reason  was  destroyed.  She  was  able  after 
an  incoherent  fashion  to  describe  the  appearance  of 
her  assailant.  The  description  was  that  of  a  savage 
named  Busheag,  whom  the  Indians  were  finally  in 
duced  to  deliver  into  the  hands  of  the  English.  He 
was  taken  to  New  Haven,  where  he  was  convicted 
and  sentenced  to  have  his  head  cut  off.1  His  execu 
tion  was  followed  by  a  period  of  tranquillity. 

While  these  somewhat  tumultuous  affairs  were 
transpiring  the  Narragansetts  were  carrying  on  a 
guerilla  warfare  with  the  Mohegans.  At  the  time 
of  Miantunnumoh's  death  his  brother  Pessicus  was 
about  attaining  his  majority.  We  have  noted  his 
communication  with  the  English  at  Boston,  which 
was  followed  by  a  body-guard  of  some  fourteen 
Englishmen  being  sent  out  of  Hartford  for  the  pro 
tection  of  Uncas  —  a  proceeding  which  did  not 
deter  the  Narragansetts  from  making  frequent 
forays  into  the  Mohegan  country.  Conditions  be 
came  so  serious,  finally,  that  in  September,  1644, 
the  commissioners  summoned  Uncas  and  Pessicus 
to  Hartford,  and  an  investigation  was  begun  into 
the  rights  in  contention  between  these  two  sachems. 
These  tribes  were  ordered  to  maintain  a  peace  until 
their  cause  was  decided,  and  were  enjoined,  fur- 

1When  Busheag  was  executed  he  sat  erect,  motionless. 
The  executioner  was  so  unused  to  his  office  that  it  was  only 
after  eight  blows  that  he  was  able  to  sever  the  head  of  the 
savage  from  his  body. 

Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  p.  23. 

[428] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

ther,  not  to  interfere  with  the  messengers  of  the 
court  as  they  went  to  deliver  the  proper  summonses. 
The  Narragansetts,  advising  with  Ninigret  as  to 
the  course  to  be  taken  by  them,  sent  Weetowisse 
and  three  councillors,  who  were  to  file  their  accusa 
tion  against  Uncas,  who  appeared  before  the  magis 
trates  for  himself.  The  case  opened  before  the 
commissioners,  and  the  Narragansetts  charged  Un 
cas  with  breaking  his  bond  to  them  in  the  matter  of 
his  killing  Miantunnumoh  ;*  also  alleging  that  the 
latter's  ransom  had  been  agreed  upon  between 
themselves  and  the  Mohegans,  and  that  a  consider 
able  portion  of  this  ransom  had  been  paid.  The 
reply  of  the  Mohegan  sachem  was  that  no  ransom 
had  been  agreed  upon,  and  that  the  amount  of 
wampum  sent  was  totally  inadequate,  and  that, 
having  been  left  to  Miantunnumoh  for  disposition, 
the  latter  had  disposed  of  it  for  the  purpose  of  ob 
taining  future  favor,  or  as  a  recompense  for  favors 
already  received. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  court  was  disposed  to 
declare  the  innocence  of  Uncas,  for  they  finally  de 
cided  that  the  evidence  of  the  complainants  failed 
to  maintain  the  charge.  They  told  the  Narragan 
setts,  as  well,  that  had  Uncas  been  found  guilty  they 
would  have  compelled  him  to  give  satisfaction,  and 
that  whenever  the  Narragansetts  were  able  to 
prove  their  contention  the  magistrates  held  them- 

1  Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  p.  25. 

[429] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

selves  ready  to  compel  Uncas  to  make  ample  repara 
tion.  They  followed  this  up  with  the  suggestion 
that  the  Narragansetts  and  the  Nehantics  were  not 
to  attack  Uncas  until  they  were  able  to  satisfy  them 
that  he  was  guilty  as  alleged.  Otherwise,  they 
would  incur  the  active  hostility  of  the  United  Colo 
nies.  The  Narragansett  deputation  after  a  brief 
consultation  agreed  not  to  attack  the  Mohegans 
until  the  next  planting- time  was  over;  nor  would 
they  then,  until  they  had  given  thirty  days'  notice 
of  their  intention  to  the  Massachusetts  governor.1 

^'Before  the  Narraganset  deputies  left  the  court,  the  Eng 
lish  made  them  sign  an  agreement  that  they  would  not  make 
war  upon  Uncas,  'Untill  after  the  next  planting  of  corn.' 
And  even  then,  that  they  should  give  30  days'  notice  to  the 
English  before  commencing  hostilities.  Also  that  'if  any  of 
the  Nayantick  Pecotts  should  make  any  assault  upon  Uncas 
or  any  of  his,  they  would  deliver  them  up  to  the  English  to  be 
punished  according  to  their  demerits.  And  that  they  should 
not  use  any  means  to  procure  the  Mawhakes  to  come  against 
Uncas  during  this  truce.'  At  the  same  time  the  English  took 
due  care  to  notify  the  Narraganset  commissioners,  by  way 
of  awing  them  into  terms,  that  if  they  did  molest  the  Mohe 
gans,  all  the  English  would  be  upon  them. 

"The  date  of  this  agreement,  if  so  we  may  call  it,  is,  'Hart 
ford,  the  xviiith  of  September,  1644,'  and  was  signed  by  four 
Indians;  one  besides  those  named  above,  called  Chimough. 

"That  no  passage  might  be  left  open  for  excuse,  in  case  of 
war,  it  was  also  mentioned,  that,  'proof  of  the  ransom 
charged,'  must  be  made  satisfactory  to  the  English  before 
war  was  begun. 

"The  power  of  Pessacus  and  Ninigret  at  this  time  was 

[430] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

They  agreed,  further,  that  they  would  not  use  any 
inducements  with  the  Mohawks  against  the  Mohe- 
gans,  and  that  if  the  latter  were  attacked  by  the 
Nehantic  Pequods  they  would  deliver  the  trans 
gressors  to  the  English  for  punishment.  This  treaty 
bears  the  date  of  September  29, 1644.  The  commis 
sioners  signed  it  for  the  colonies.  The  sachems 
Weetowisse,  Pawpiamet,  Chimough,  and  Pum- 
mumshe,  as  councillors  of  the  Narragansetts,  signed 
for  that  tribe.1 

Once  the  Narragansett  deputation  had  returned 
to  their  own  country,  indifferent  to  their  promises 
to  the  English,  hostilities  were  again  renewed  and 
their  warriors  were  once  more  scouring  the  domains 
of  Uncas.  Along  in  the  spring  following,  without 
notice  to  the  Massachusetts  authorities,  Pessicus 
led  a  large  force  of  warriors  against  the  Mohegans. 


much  feared  by  the  English,  and  they  were  ready  to  believe 
any  reports  of  the  hostile  doings  of  the  Narragansets,  who, 
since  the  subjection  of  the  Pequots,  had  made  themselves 
masters  of  all  their  neighbors,  except  the  English,  as  the 
Pequots  had  done  before  them.  The  Mohegans  were  also  in 
great  fear  of  them,  as  well  after  as  before  the  death  of  Mian- 
tunnomoh;  but  for  whose  misfortune  in  being  made  a  prisoner 
by  a  stratagem  of  Uncas,  or  his  captains,  the  English  might 
have  seen  far  greater  troubles  from  them  than  they  did,  judg 
ing  from  the  known  abilities  of  that  great  chief." 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  vol.  ii.,  p.  92. 

Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  25,  26. 
Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  vol.  ii.,  p.  92. 

t  431  ] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

Wherever  they  went  destruction  followed.  Not  a 
wigwam  or  village  lay  behind  their  path;  all  were 
obliterated.  The  Mohegans  sought  safety  in  flight, 
and  their  sachem  was  obliged  to  hasten  to  one  of 
his  forts  for  safety.  The  site  of  this  fort  is  Shantok 
Point,  a  ragged  headland  on  the  western  shore  of 
the  Thames,  in  the  building  of  which  the  English 
had  assisted.  As  against  the  armament  of  the  Nar- 
ragansetts,  it  was  practically  impregnable,  and  they 
had  no  way  of  reducing  it  except  by  starving  its  oc 
cupants.  With  that  in  view,  they  possessed  them 
selves  of  the  canoes  of  the  Mohegans,  to  afterwards 
occupy  the  country  adjacent  with  numerous  bands 
of  warriors.  They  had  driven  Uncas  into  one  of  his 
dens,  where  they  proposed  to  keep  him  until  star 
vation  should  deliver  him  into  their  hands.  This 
proving  futile,  by  reason  of  the  Mohegans  receiving 
substantial  relief  in  the  way  of  supplies  from  the 
English,  they  raised  the  siege  to  return  to  their  own 
country.1 

1 " '  At  the  time  the  Mohegan  tribe  of  Indians  were  besieged 
by  the  Narraganset  tribe,  in  a  fort  near  the  River  Thames, 
between  Norwich  and  New  London,  the  provisions  of  the 
besieged  being  nearly  exhausted,  Uncas,  their  sachem,  found 
means  to  inform  the  settlers  at  Saybrook  of  their  distress,  and 
the  danger  they  would  be  in  from  the  Narragansets,  if  the 
Mohegan  tribe  were  cut  off.  Ensign  Thomas  Leffingwell, 
one  of  the  first  settlers  there,  loaded  a  canoe  with  beef,  corn 
and  peas,  and  in  the  night  time  paddled  from  Saybrook  into 
the  Thames,  and  had  the  address  to  get  the  whole  into  the 

[432] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

This  invasion  was  followed  by  another  comprised 
of  several  hundred  warriors,  thirty  of  whom  carried 
muskets.  They  came  upon  the  Mohegans  with 
great  secrecy;  and  by  a  ruse  of  sending  into  Uncas's 
vicinity  some  forty  of  their  warriors, —  who,  upon 
being  pursued,  took  to  their  heels, —  in  this  manner 
drew  the  Mohegans  within  their  reach,  the  Narra- 
gansetts  meeting  them  with  a  hail  of  bullets  and 
arrows.  It  was  the  turn  of  the  Mohegans  to  run, 
which  they  did  to  such  purpose  that  they  were  able 
to  regain  their  fort  with  a  loss  of  four  of  their  saga 
mores,  two  warriors  killed,  and  some  forty  wounded. 
The  Narragansetts  continued  the  pursuit  to  the 
fort;  but  there  happened  to  be  a  few  Englishmen  in 
the  vicinity,  upon  the  appearance  of  whom  the 
Narragansetts  at  once  retired.  The  wounded  in 
the  fort  had  their  wounds  dressed  by  John  Win- 
throp,  Jr.,  and  Thomas  Peeters,  who  were  among 
the  earliest  of  the  New  London  settlers.1  TJncas 
related  to  these  the  story  of  the  fight,  remarking 
that  had  it  not  been  for  the  guns  he  would  not 
have  run  for  the  Narragansetts. 

fort  of  the  besieged ;  —  received  a  deed  from  Uncas  of  the 
town  of  Norwich,  and  made  his  escape  that  very  night.  In 
consequence  of  which,  the  besiegers,  finding  Uncas  had  pro 
cured  relief,  raised  the  siege,  and  the  Mohegan  tribe  were 
saved,  and  have  ever  proved  strict  friends  to  the  New  Eng 
land  settlers.'" 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  vol.  ii.,  p.  94. 

'DeForest,  p.  215. 

[433] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

For  the  remainder  of  this  season  the  English  kept 
a  small  force  under  arms  in  the  Mohegan  country. 
These  incursions  of  the  Narragansetts  aroused  the 
colonies  to  make  some  more  strenuous  exertion  for 
the  protection  of  Uncas,  who  had  so  many  times  lent 
himself  to  their  purposes.  At  a  meeting  of  the  com 
missioners  of  the  United  Colonies  at  Boston  in 
May,  1645,  this  matter  was  considered,  and  mes 
sengers  were  despatched  to  the  Mohegans,  Narra 
gansetts,  and  Nehantics,  with  the  invitation  that 
they  attend  once  more  upon  the  magistrates  for  the 
purpose  of  settling  the  difficulties  existing  between 
these  tribes.  Benedict  Arnold  accompanied  them 
as  interpreter.  When  they  arrived  in  the  Narra- 
gansett  country  they  were  received  with  indiffer 
ence  by  Pessicus.1 

*" These  messengers,  Sergeant  John  Dames  [Davis?], 
Benedict  Arnold,  and  Francis  Smyth,  on  their  first  arrival 
at  Narraganset,  were  welcomed  by  the  sachems,  who  offered 
them  guides  to  conduct  them  to  Uncas;  but,  either  having 
understood  their  intentions,  or  judging  from  their  appearance 
that  the  English  messengers  meant  them  no  good,  changed 
their  deportment  altogether,  and  in  the  meantime  secretly 
despatched  messengers  to  the  Nianticks  before  them,  giving 
them  to  understand  what  was  going  forward.  After  this,  say 
the  messengers,  'there  was  nothing  but  proud  and  insolent 
passages  [from  Ninigret].  The  Indian  guides  which  they  had 
brought  with  them  from  Pumham  and  Sokakanoco  were,  by 
frowns  and  threatening  speeches,  discouraged,  and  returned; 
no  other  guides  could  be  obtained/  The  sachems  said  they 
knew,  by  what  was  done  at  Hartford  last  year,  that  the  Eng- 

[434] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

When  the  messengers  had  fully  informed  Pessicus 
as  to  their  errand,  he  replied:  "The  reason  I  did 
not  meet  the  English  sachems  at  New  Haven  last 
year,  is,  they  did  not  notify  me.  It  is  true  I  have 
broken  my  covenant  these  two  years,  and  that  now 
is  constantly,  and  has  been,  the  grief  of  my  spirit. 
The  reason  I  do  not  meet  them  now,  at  Boston  is 
because  I  am  sick.  If  I  were  but  pretty  well,  I 
would  go.  I  have  sent  my  mind  in  full  to  Ninigret 
and  what  he  does,  I  will  abide  by.  I  have  sent 
Powpynamett  and  Pumumsks  to  go  and  hear,  and 
testify  that  I  have  betrusted  my  full  mind  with 
Nenegratt.  You  know  full  well,  however,  that 
when  I  made  that  covenant  two  years  ago,  I  did  it 
in  fear  of  the  army  that  I  did  see;  and  though  the 

lish  would  urge  peace,  'but  they  were  resolved,'  they  said, 
'to  have  no  peace  without  Uncas  his  head/  As  to  who  began 
the  war,  they  cared  not,  but  they  were  resolved  to  continue  it; 
that  if  the  English  did  not  withdraw  their  soldiers  from  Uncas, 
they  should  consider  it  a  breach  of  former  covenants,  and 
would  procure  as  many  Mohawks  as  the  English  had  soldiers 
to  bring  against  them.  They  reviled  Uncas  for  having 
wounded  himself,  and  then  charging  it  upon  them,  and  said 
he  was  no  friend  of  the  English,  but  would  now,  if  he  durst, 
kill  the  English  messengers,  and  lay  that  to  them.  There 
fore,  not  being  able  to  proceed,  the  English  messengers  re 
turned  to  the  Narragansets  and  acquainted  Pessacus  of  what 
had  passed,  desiring  he  would  furnish  them  with  guides;  'he, 
(in  scorn,  as  they  apprehended  it,)  offered  them  an  old  Pea- 
cott  squaw.'" 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  92,  93. 

[435] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

English  kept  their  covenant  with  me,  yet  they  were 
ready  to  go  to  Narragansett  and  kill  me  and  the 
commissioners  said  they  would  do  it  if  I  did  not 
sign  what  they  had  written." 

From  Pessicus  the  messengers  went  to  Ninigret, 
who  received  them  with  a  contemptuous  derision. 
It  was  evident,  in  the  behavior  of  the  Indians  to  this 
embassy,  that  they  held  the  treaty  but  lightly;  and 
it  was  no  less  apparent  that  their  distrust  of  the 
English  was  about  to  take  a  definite  shape.  So  im 
pressed  were  the  messengers  with  the  attitude  of 
these  two  sachems  that  they  were  afraid  to  continue 
their  journey  into  the  Mohegan  country,  and  re 
turned  to  Boston,  where  they  related  their  experi 
ences,  not  unmixed  with  indignation  and  some 
anger  at  the  insult  put  upon  their  station.1  On 
their  way  back  they  met  Roger  Williams,  who  gave 


messengers  now  thought  themselves  in  danger  of 
being  massacred;  'three  Indians  with  hatchets  standing  be 
hind  the  interpreter  in  a  suspicious  manner,  while  he  was 
speaking  with  Pessacus,  and  the  rest  frowning  and  expressing 
much  distemper  in  their  countenance  and  carriage.'  So, 
without  much  loss  of  time,  they  began  to  retrace  their  steps. 
On  leaving  Pessacus,  they  told  him  they  were  to  lodge  at  an 
English  trading  house  not  far  off  that  night,  and  if  he  wanted 
to  send  any  word  to  the  English,  he  might  send  to  them.  In  the 
morning,  he  invited  them  to  return,  and  said  he  would  furnish 
them  with  guides  to  visit  Uncas,  but  he  would  not  suspend 
hostilities.  Not  daring  to  risk  the  journey,  the  messengers 
returned  home.  Arnold,  the  interpreter,  testified  that  this 
was  a  true  relation  of  what  had  happened,  which  is  necessary 

[436] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

them  a  letter  to  the  Massachusetts  authorities,  in 
which  he  declared  that  war  with  the  Indians  was 
about  to  ensue;  and  that  the  Narragansetts,  in 
anticipation  of  its  results,  had  entered  into  an  ami 
cable  treaty  with  the  Providence  and  the  Rhode 
Island  tribes.  This  aroused  the  commissioners  to 
lay  out  an  immediate  campaign  against  the  Narra 
gansetts,  the  first  step  of  which  was  to  impress 
forty  men,  who  were  despatched  three  days  later 
to  take  the  place  of  the  garrison  at  Mohegan,  which 
was  about  to  return  to  New  Haven.1  This  little 
party  was  accompanied  by  two  Massachusetts  Indi 
ans  as  guides.  They  had  along  with  them  four 
horses.  Forty  men  from  Connecticut  and  thirty 
from  New  Haven  were  to  join  them  at  Mohegan, 

to  be  borne  in  mind,  as  something  may  appear,  as  we  pro 
ceed,  impeaching  the  veracity  of  Arnold." 
Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  vol.  ii.,  p.  93. 
"Meanwhile  the  commissioners  set  forth  an  armament  to 
defend  Uncas,  at  all  hazards.  To  justify  this  movement  they 
declare,  that,  'considering  the  great  provocations  offered,  and 
the  necessity  we  should  be  put  unto  of  making  war  upon  the 
Narrohiggin,  &c.  and  being  also  careful  in  a  matter  of  so 
great  weight  and  general  concernment  to  see  the  way  cleared 
and  to  give  satisfaction  to  all  the  colonists,  did  think  fit  to 
advise  with  such  of  the  magistrates  and  elders  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  as  were  then  at  hand,  and  also  with  some  of  the 
chief  military  commanders  there,  who  being  assembled,  it 
was  then  agreed :  First,  that  our  engagement  bound  us  to  aid 
and  defend  the  Mohegan  sachem.  Secondly,  that  this  aid 
could  not  be  intended  to  only  defend  him  and  his,  in  his  fort 

[437] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

and,  under  the  command  of  John  Mason,  the  com 
pany  was  to  march  at  once  against  the  Nehantics, 
who  were  designated  as  the  instigators  of  the  antici- 

or  habitation,  but  (according  to  the  common  acceptation  of 
such  covenants  or  engagements  considered  with  the  ground 
or  occasion  thereof,)  so  to  aid  him  as  hee  might  be  preserved 
in  his  liberty  and  estate.  Thirdly,  that  this  aid  must  be  speedy, 
lest  he  might  be  swallowed  up  in  the  meantime,  and  so  come 
too  late/ 

"' According  to  the  counsel  and  determination  aforesaid, 
the  commissioners,  considering  the  present  danger  of  Uncas 
the  Mohegan  sachem,  (his  fort  having  been  divers  times 
assaulted  by  a  great  army  of  the  Narrohiggansets,  &c.) 
agreed  to  have  40  soldiers  sent  with  all  expedition  for  his 
defence.'  Lieut.  Atherton  and  Sergeant  John  Davis  led  this 
company,  conducted  by  two  of  *  CutchamakinY  Indians  as 
guides.  Atherton  was  ordered  not  to  make  an  '  attempt  upon 
the  town  otherwise  than  in  Uncas'  defence/  Capt.  Mason 
of  Connecticut  was  to  join  them,  and  take  the  chief  com 
mand.  Forty  men  were  ordered  also  from  Connecticut,  and 
30  from  New  Haven  under  Lieut.  Sealy.  In  their  instructions 
to  Mason,  the  commissioners  say,  'We  so  now  aim  at  the  pro 
tection  of  the  Mohegans,  that  we  would  have  no  opportunity 
neglected  to  weaken  the  Narragansets  and  their  confederates, 
in  their  number  of  men,  their  cane  canoes,  wigwams,  wam 
pum  and  goods.  We  look  upon  the  Nianticks  as  the  chief 
incendiaries  and  causes  of  war,  and  should  be  glad  they  might 
first  feel  the  smart  of  it.'  The  Nianticks,  therefore,  were 
particularly  to  be  had  in  view  by  Mason,  and  he  was  informed 
at  the  same  time  that  Massachusetts  and  Plimouth  were 
forthwith  to  send,  'another  army  to  invade  the  Narragan 
sets/" 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  vol.  ii.,  p.  93. 

[438] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

pated  hostilities,  and  who  were  to  be  the  first  to 
experience  the  displeasure  of  the  English.  In  addi 
tion  to  this  enterprise,  another  was  to  be  projected 
against  the  Narragansetts  from  the  Massachusetts 
side,  under  the  command  of  Major  Edward  Gib 
bons,  with  one  hundred  ninety  men.1 

It  was  thought  fit  to  make  a  final  effort  with  these 
people  toward  a  possible  adjustment.  Two  other 
messengers  were  sent  to  Pessicus,  who  informed 
him  of  the  plans  and  preparations  of  the  English. 
That  sachem,  upon  being  informed  that  the  English 
force  being  despatched  against  him  was  four  times 
as  great  as  that  which  overthrew  the  Pequods,  lost 
his  courage.  A  brief  cessation  of  hostilities  was  the 

1  Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  28-32. 

"The  commissioners  now  proceeded  to  make  choice  of  a 
commander  in  chief  of  the  two  armies.  Maj.  Edward  Gib 
bons  was  unanimously  elected.  In  his  instructions  is  this 
passage:  'Wheras  the  scope  and  cause  of  this  expedition  is 
not  only  to  aid  the  Mohegans,  but  to  offend  the  Narragan- 
sets,  Nianticks,  and  other  their  confederates.'  He  was  directed 
also  to  conclude  a  peace  with  them,  if  they  desired  it,  provided 
it  were  made  with  special  reference  to  damages,  &c.  And 
they  say,  'But  withal,  according  to  our  engagements,  you  are 
to  provide  for  Uncas'  future  safety,  that  his  plantations  be 
not  invaded,  that  his  men  and  squaws  may  attend  their 
planting  and  fishing  and  other  occasions  without  fear  or  in 
jury,  and  Vssamequine,  Pomham,  Sokakonoco,  Cutchamakin, 
and  other  Indians,  friends  or  subjects  to  the  English,  be  not 
molested,  &c.'" 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  vol.  ii.,  p.  94. 

[439] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

result.  Immediately,  Pessicus,  with  several  of  his 
councillors,  went  to  Boston,  where  before  the  com 
missioners  their  defence  was  resolved  into  their  old 
complaint  against  Uncas.1  Still  holding  to  their 
animosity  against  the  Mohegan  sachem,  they 
offered  to  refrain  from  making  further  attack  upon 
the  Mohegans  until  after  next  planting-season. 
Extending  the  time  to  a  year,  and  then  to  a  year  and 
a  quarter,  all  of  which  propositions  were  unfavor 
ably  received  by  the  commissioners,  one  of  them 
delivered  to  the  commissioners  a  stick,  the  signifi 
cance  of  which  was  that  it  was  for  the  commission 
ers  to  tell  them  what  they  should  do.2  The  com- 

l"  It  was  in  the  end  agreed,  that  the  chiefs,  Pessacus, 
Mexam,  and  divers  others,  should  proceed  to  Boston,  agree 
ably  to  the  desire  of  the  English,  which  they  did,  in  company 
with  Harding  and  Welborne,  who  brought  back  the  old  pres 
ent,  and  for  which  they  also  received  the  censure  of  the  con 
gress.  They  arrived  at  Boston  just  as  the  second  levy  of 
troops  were  marching  out  for  their  country,  and  thus  the  ex 
pedition  was  stayed  until  the  result  of  a  treaty  should  be 
made  known." 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  vol.  ii.,  p.  96. 

2 "It  appeared,  on  a  conference  with  the  commissioners 
that  the  sachems  did  not  fully  understand  the  nature  of  all 
the  charges  against  them  before  leaving  their  country,  and  in 
justice  to  them  it  should  be  observed,  that,  so  far  as  the 
record  goes,  their  case  appears  to  us  the  easiest  to  be  defended 
of  the  three  parties  concerned.  They  told  the  commissioners 
of  sundry  charges  they  had  against  the  Uncas,  but  they  said 
they  could  not  hear  them,  for  Uncas  was  not  there  to  speak 

[440] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

missioners  replied  to  them  that  the  price  of  peace 
with  the  English  would  be  two  thousand  fathoms 
of  wampum  and  a  full  indemnification  of  such  ex 
penses  as  had  been  incurred  in  the  preparation  for 
war;  that  they  should  restore  all  captive  Mohegans 
and  Mohegan  canoes;  and,  as  well,  must  not  only 
put  their  contention  with  Uncas  before  the  next 
session  of  the  court,  but  they  must  abide  by  its 
ruling.  The  wampum  was  to  be  paid  in  quarterly 

for  himself;  and  that  they  had  hindered  his  being  notified  of 
their  coming.  As  to  a  breach  of  covenant,  they  maintained, 
for  some  time,  that  they  had  committed  none,  and  that  their 
treatment  of  the  English  had  been  misrepresented.  'But, 
(says  our  record)  after  a  long  debate  and  some  priuate  con- 
ferrence,  they  had  with  Serjeant  Cullicutt,  they  acknowledged 
they  had  broken  promise  or  couenant  in  the  afore  menconed 
warrs,  and  off  erred  to  make  another  truce  with  Uncas,  either 
till  next  planting  tyme,  as  they  had  done  last  yeare  at  Hart 
ford,  or  for  a  yeare,  or  a  yeare  and  a  quarter.' 

"They  had  been  induced  to  make  this  admission,  no  doubt, 
by  the  persuasion  of  Cullicut,  who,  probably,  was  instructed 
to  inform  them  that  the  safety  of  their  country  depended 
upon  their  compliance  with  the  wishes  of  the  English  at  this 
time.  An  army  of  soldiers  was  at  that  moment  parading  the 
streets,  in  all  the  pomposity  of  a  modern  training,  which  must 
have  reminded  them  of  the  horrible  destruction  of  their  kin 
dred  at  Mystic  eight  years  before. 

"The  proposition  of  a  truce  being  objected  to  by  the  Eng 
lish,  '  one  of  the  sachems  offered  a  stick  or  a  wand  to  the  com 
missioners,  expressing  himself,  that  therewith  they  put  the 
power  and  disposition  of  the  war  into  their  hands,  and  de 
sired  to  know  what  the  English  would  require  of  them.'  They 

[441] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

instalments,  the  last  payment  to  be  within  twenty 
months.  Four  sons  of  Pessicus,  Ninigret,  and  other 
chief  sachems  were  to  be  delivered  up  as  hostages 
within  fourteen  days;  and  until  this  last  provision 
was  complied  with  four  sachems  of  the  Narragan- 
sett  party  were  to  be  retained  as  prisoners  at  Bos 
ton.  This  was  followed  up  by  the  imposition  of  a 
tax  in  the  nature  of  a  poll,  which  was  that  for  every 
Pequod  man  among  the  Narragansetts  and  the 
Nehantics  they  were  to  pay  annually  a  fathom  of 
white  wampum,  a  half-fathom  for  every  youth,  and 
a  hand-length  for  every  child.  The  only  point 
made  in  their  favor  was  that  the  Mohegans  should 
be  obliged  to  restore  to  them  whatever  of  plunder 


were  answered  that  the  expenses  and  trouble  they  had  caused 
the  English  was  very  great,  'besides  the  damage  Uncas  had 
sustained;  yet  to  show  their  moderacon,  they  would  require 
of  them  but  twoo  thousand  fathome  of  white  wampom  for 
their  owne  satisfaccon,'  but  that  they  should  restore  to  Uncas 
all  the  captives  and  canoes  taken  from  him,  and  make  restitu 
tion  of  all  the  corn  they  had  spoiled.  As  for  the  last-mentioned 
offence,  the  sachems  asserted  there  had  been  none  such;  for 
it  was  not  the  manner  of  the  Indians  to  destroy  corn. 

"This  most  excellent  and  indirect  reproof  must  have  had 
no  small  effect  on  those  who  heard  it,  as  no  doubt  some  of  the 
actors  as  well  as  the  advisers  of  the  destruction  of  the  Indians' 
corn,  previous  to  and  during  the  Pequot  war,  were  now  pres 
ent;  Block  Island,  and  the  fertile  fields  upon  the  shores  of  the 
Connecticut,  must  have  magnified  before  their  imaginations." 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  96,  97. 

[442] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

or  captives  they  might  have  taken  from  these  tribes. 
As  to  all  other  matters,  the  commissioners  were  un 
yielding,  and  on  the  fifth  of  September,  1645,  a 
new  treaty  was  signed  —  on  the  part  of  the  Indi 
ans,  with  manifest  reluctance.1 

The  following  year  Sequassen  occupied  the  atten 
tion  of  the  English  in  a  minor  way,  being  a  rival  of 
Uncas,  whom  he  hated  thoroughly,  while  he  dis 
liked  the  English  because  they  were  friendly  to  the 
Mohegans.  He  concocted  a  plot  with  a  Potatuck 
savage,  by  which  the  latter  was  to  accomplish  the 
death  of  Uncas.  This  fell  through,  on  account  of 
the  cowardice  of  the  proposed  perpetrator  of  the 
crime,  who,  instead  of  going  into  the  Mohegan 
country,  took  his  way  to  Hartford,  where  he  dis 
closed  the  matter  to  the  magistrates.  Sequassen 
was  summoned  to  Hartford.  The  court  had  been  in 
session  some  time  when  two  sagamores  made  their 
appearance,  avowing  that  they  were  friends  of 
Sequassen,  and  announcing  that  they  had  just  re 
turned  from  Massachusetts,  where  they  had  been 
with  the  former.  They  had  carried  a  present  to  the 
governor,  who,  while  he  refused  to  accept  it,  "con 
sented  to  give  it  house-room,"  which  was  in  accord 
ance  with  the  traditions  of  the  Bay  authorities. 
Sequassen  was  afterward  captured  and  brought  to 
Hartford,  where  he  was  imprisoned;  but,  nothing 

*For  copy  of  this  treaty  see  Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians, 
vol.  ii.,  pp.  97,  98. 

[443] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

being  proved  against  him,  he  was  set  at  liberty.1 
While  the  incident  is  not  important,  it  shows  how 
credulous  the  English  were  in  matters  of  accusation 
by  one  Indian  against  another,  and  how  readily 
they  clothed  with  the  garb  of  veracity  such  as  in 
formed  them  of  these  so-called  plots.  The  Potatuck 
"was  unquestionably  a  liar  and  a  villian." 

In  the  same  year  the  Milford  people  maintained 
a  daily  and  nightly  guard  about  their  settlements, 
and  when  attending  church  Sundays  took  their  mus 
kets  and  side-arms  along  with  them,  fearful  of  an 
inroad  by  the  Wepawaugs  or  Paugussets,  who  had 
grown  uneasy,  by  reason  of  real  or  fancied  wrongs 
imposed  upon  them  by  the  English.  The  nearest 
approach  to  hostilities  on  the  part  of  the  savages 
was  their  setting  fire  to  the  woods  about  the  town, 
which  the  settlers  finally  succeeded  in  extinguish 
ing  before  it  reached  the  palisades.  The  principal 
damage  was  the  destruction  of  a  large  area  of  tim 
ber-lands  and  the  burning  of  several  meadows.2 

With  an  occasional  inroad  from  the  Mohawks 
upon  the  settlements  along  the  coast,  nothing  of  any 
importance  happened  until  about  1648,  when  a 
body  of  Mohawks  hid  themselves  in  a  swamp  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Stratford  Ferry.  They  were  dis 
covered  by  some  of  the  settlers,  who  informed  the 

1  Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  60,  61. 
Winthrop,  vol.  ii.,  p.  333. 

2  Lambart's  History  of  New  Haven  Colony,  p.  128. 

[444] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

Wepawaugs,  who  went  out  against  them,  by  whom 
the  Mohawks  were  defeated.  As  a  curious  inci 
dent  of  Indian  torture,  one  captive  Mohawk  was 
stripped,  tied  hand  and  foot  to  a  tree  in  one  of  the 
meadows,  and  left  to  the  mercies  of  the  mosquitoes, 
which  at  that  season  of  the  year  were  abundant. 
Thomas  Hine,  an  English  settler,  came  across  the 
Mohawk,  whom  he  relieved  from  his  uncomfortable 
situation,  afterward  feeding  him,  and  thereby 
enabled  him  to  escape.  For  this  kindness  the  Mo 
hawks  held  the  family  of  this  settler  in  great  esteem, 
and  were  wont  to  remark  that  the  "Hines'  did  not 
die  like  the  other  pale-faces,  but  went  to  the  west, 
where  the  Great  Spirit  took  them  into  his  big  wig 
wam  and  made  them  great  men."1 

In  1649  a  murder  was  committed  by  an  Indian 
at  Stamford.  John  Whitmore,  a  member  of  the 
General  Court  of  New  Haven,  went  to  look  over 
his  cattle  one  day,  and  that  was  the  last  ever  seen 
of  him.  The  son  of  a  neighboring  sagamore  was 
suspected  of  the  crime;  but  he  throwing  the  guilt 
upon  another,  who  was  absent,  the  matter  was  held 
in  abeyance.  Two  or  three  months  later  TJncas 
came  down  to  Stamford,  accompanied  by  some 
of  his  fighting-men,  and,  being  informed  of  this 
offence,  began  an  investigation  with  the  demand 
to  know  where  the  body  was  concealed.  The  saga- 

'Trumbull,  vol.  i.,  pp.  162,  163. 
Barber's  Hist.  Coll.  Conn.,  Milford. 

[445] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

more's  son  and  another  savage  who  was  suspected 
led  the  wray  directly  to  the  place  where  the  body 
was  finally  discovered.  Nothing,  however,  was 
done  in  the  matter.1  By  this  time  Uncas  had  be 
come  so  confident  of  the  English  favor  that  his  un 
rest  and  turbulency,  his  oppression  of  the  Pequods 
subject  to  him,  his  abuse  and  despoiling  of  those 
who  were  not  under  his  subjection,  made  him  ob 
noxious  to  the  colony.  He  deprived  one  man  of  his 
wife,  another  of  his  corn  and  beans;  he  failed  to  de 
liver  to  the  English  wampum  which  had  been  en 
trusted  to  him  for  that  purpose;  and,  together  with 
his  brother  Wawequa,  he  lost  no  opportunity  of 
committing  every  possible  depredation  upon  his 
neighbors.  These  acts  on  his  part  brought  upon 
him  the  reprimands  of  the  English,  and,  in  one  or 
two  instances,  punishment.2 

Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  127,  128. 
Colonial  Records,  vol.  i.,  p.  197. 

2 ''At  the  same  court  Obechiquod  complained  that  Uncas 
had  forcibly  taken  away  his  wife,  and  criminally  obliged  her 
to  live  with  him.  'Foxon  being  present,  as  Uncas'  deputy, 
was  questioned  about  this  base  and  unsufferable  outrage;  he 
denied  that  Uncas  either  took  or  kept  away  Obechiquod 's 
wife  by  force,  and  affirmed  that  [on]  Obechiquod 's  withdraw 
ing,  with  other  Pequots,  from  Uncas,  his  wife  refused  to  go 
with  him;  and  that,  among  the  Indians,  it  is  usual  when  a 
wife  so  deserts  her  husband,  another  may  take  her.  Obechi 
quod  affirmed  that  Uncas  had  dealt  criminally  before,  and 
still  kept  her  against  her  will.' 

"Though  not  satisfied  in  point  of  proof,  the  commissioners 

[446] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

Uncas  was  inclined  to  carry  things  with  a  high 
hand,  and  from  this  time  on  gave  the  commission 
ers  of  Connecticut  more  or  less  trouble.  In  1646  he 
made  an  inroad  upon  the  country  about  New  Lon 
don  with  three  hundred  Mohegans,  in  reprisal  be 
cause  Cassasinamon  had  been  driving  the  woods 
for  game,  that  the  people  at  New  London  might 
have  something  to  eat,  Thomas  Peeters  being  ill 
and  some  of  the  other  settlers  being  out  of  provi 
sions.  This  was  resented  by  Uncas  on  the  ground 
that  the  Indian  hunter  was  not  an  independent 
sachem  and  had  assumed  too  much  freedom  in 
conducting  this  forage  for  game.  Peeters  com 
plained  to  the  commissioners,  who  had  him  before 
them  at  the  next  session,  which  resulted  in  very 
little  other  than  the  court's  promising  to  take  up  his 
grievances.1  Uncas  had  hardly  been  dismissed  by 
the  commissioners  before  a  new  complaint  was 
made  against  him  by  William  Morton,  of  New 
London,  who  brought  along  three  Pequods  to  sub 
stantiate  his  complaint.  The  hearing  resolved  itself 
into  a  "labyrinth  of  lies,"  in  which  Uncas  ap- 

say,  'Yet  abhoring  that  lustful  adulterous  carriage  of  Uncas, 
as  it  is  acknowledged  and  mittigated  by  Foxon,'  ordered  that 
he  should  restore  the  wife,  and  that  Obechiquod  have  liberty 
to  settle  under  the  protection  of  the  English,  where  they  should 
direct." 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  vol.  ii.,  p.  100. 

1  Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  p.  65. 

[447] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

peared  to  his  usual  disadvantage,  and  the  affair 
was  dismissed.1 

These  incidents  were  followed  by  a  series  of 
petty  tyrannies  on  the  part  of  Uncas.  He  abducted 
the  wife  of  Obechiquod ;  defiled  the  wife  of  Sanaps, 
one  of  his  subjects;  and  to  these  injuries  he  added 
the  robbery  of  the  latter's  harvest.  The  Indians 
were  great  gamblers,  a  pastime  that  was  carried  on 
quite  generally  between  the  Pequods  and  the  Mo- 
hegans,  and  whenever  the  former  won  at  play  he 
(Uncas)  justified  the  latter  in  not  paying  their 
debts.  In  his  not  infrequent  excursions  against  the 
Long  Island  Indians  he  was  wont  to  demand  of  the 
Pequods  that  they  join  him;  when  they  refused  to 
do  so  he  cut  up  their  fishing-nets,  and  committed 
other  depredations  upon  their  possessions.  It  was, 
however,  of  small  importance  to  the  English  what 
happened  to  the  Pequods,  and  these  abuses  were 
passed  without  reparation,  so  indifferent  were  the 
English  to  these  tributaries. 

The  following  year,  1647,  a  child  of  Uncas  died, 
whereupon,  after  the  custom  of  the  tribes,  the  sa 
chem  carried  gifts  of  consolation  to  the  mother, 
and,  threatening  the  Pequods,  Uncas  ordered  them 
to  do  the  same.  Tassaquanot,  a  brother  of  Sassa- 
cus,  who  had  survived  the  butcheries  of  the  Eng 
lish  and  the  Mohawks,  refused  to  comply  with  this 
demand  of  Uncas,  excusing  himself  with  the  ob- 

1  Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  p.  66. 

[448] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

servation  that  if  he  had  any  wampum  it  were  better 
to  give  it  to  the  English,  as  the  obtaining  of  their 
favor  would  give  them  security  against  Uncas. 
Others  of  the  Pequods,  being  fearful  of  Uncas,  and 
knowing  his  retaliatory  disposition,  collected  some 
one  hundred  fathoms  and  disposed  of  it  as  Uncas 
directed. 

A  few  days  later  Wawequa  came  into  the  Pequod 
settlement  with  a  message  from  Uncas  that  the 
latter  and  the  Mohegan  council  had  decided  to  put 
a  number  of  them  to  death.  Recalling  the  advice 
of  Tassaquanot,  they  set  about  collecting  a  quan 
tity  of  wampum  to  be  given  to  the  English,  hoping 
thereby  to  purchase  their  safety  from  Uncas,  who, 
being  acquainted  with  their  design,  the  following 
day  appeared  before  their  fort  with  his  warriors. 
The  Pequods  succeeded  in  making  their  escape,  to 
take  up  their  residence  under  the  protection  of  the 
New  London  settlers. 

In  July  of  this  year,  upon  the  meeting  of  the  com 
missioners  at  Boston,  Cassasinamon  and  Obechi- 
quod,  with  forty-six  Pequods  and  eighteen  Ne- 
hantics,  complained  of  the  abuses  of  Uncas.  Their 
relation  comprised  all  the  wrongs  inflicted  upon 
them  by  Uncas:  his  abduction  of  their  wives;  his 
robberies  of  their  corn  and  beans;  his  destruction  of 
their  fishing-nets;  his  extortions  of  wampum;  and 
his  threats  of  personal  injury.  They  alleged  in  their 
petition  that  they  had  refused  to  engage  in  the  wars 
of  Sassacus  against  the  English  settlers,  and  that 

[449] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

they  were  not  guilty  of  killing  any  of  the  English, 
and  they  claimed  the  English  protection.1  The 
chief  councillor  of  Uncas,  whose  name  was  Foxon,2 
represented  the  Mohegan  sachem  at  this  hearing. 
Some  of  the  charges  he  denied,  and  some  he  ex 
cused;  of  some  he  pretended  ignorance;  and  with 
much  plausible  speech  he  defended  the  outrages  of 
Uncas.  He  declared  that  Obechiquod,  having  fled 
the  territory  of  Uncas,  had  forfeited  his  wife  by 
Indian  custom;  that  the  Pequods  had  never  sent 
wampum  to  the  English,  unless  they  had  joined  in 
so  doing  with  the  Mohegans;  he  was  unaware  of 
the  destruction  of  the  fishing-nets;  it  was  a  lie  so 
far  as  Uncas  favored  the  Mohegans  against  the 
Pequods  in  gaming.  As  for  the  statement  of  the 
Pequods  regarding  their  attitude  toward  the  Eng 
lish,  it  was  false;  for  he  alleged  that  some  of  them 
were  in  the  fort  destroyed  by  Mason,  and  under 
cover  of  the  smoke  they  escaped  to  engage  in  other 
places  against  the  Mohegans  and  the  Narragan- 
setts.3 

The  commissioners  were  not  deceived  by  this  de 
fence;  and  though  recognizing  the  shortcomings  of 

Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  87-89. 

2  Foxon,  Foxun,  or  Poxen  was  a  crafty,  plausible  coun 
cillor,  who  is  mentioned  in  one  of  the  Apostle  Eliot's  letters 
as  being  considered  among  the  Massachusetts  tribes  as  "the 
wisest  Indian  in  the  country." 

Mass.  Hist.  Coll.,  vol.  xxiv.,  p.  57. 

3 Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  p.  90. 

[450] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

their  favorite,  they  were  slow  to  deprive  Uncas  of 
the  credit  accorded  him  by  the  colonies.  They 
directed  the  Pequods  to  return  to  the  Mohegan 
country,  and  further  directed  Uncas  not  to  inter 
fere  with  them.  They  afterwards  despatched  a 
deputy  to  Uncas  with  a  verbal  reproof  that  the  Eng 
lish  would  not  support  him  "in  such  unlawful  and 
outrageous  courses."1 

But  this  was  not  all;  for  John  Winthrop,  of  New 
London,  entered  a  new  complaint  against  Uncas, 
and  Foxon  was  again  obliged  to  plead  in  extenua 
tion  of  the  Mohegan  sachem.  Winthrop's  com 
plaint  was  that  Wawequa,  with  one  hundred  thirty 
Mohegans,  had  made  a  foray  upon  the  Nipmucks,2 
from  which  tribe  they  had  carried  away  thirty-five 


,  vol.  ii.,  p.  91. 

2  This  tribe  dwelt  mainly  in  the  eastern  interior  of  Massa 
chusetts,  occupying  many  of  the  lakes  and  rivers.  Their 
exact  limits  have  not  been  defined;  but  they  must  have  been 
very  extensive,  as  there  is  proof  that  their  boundaries  reached 
as  far  as  Boston  on  the  east,  as  far  south  as  the  northern  por 
tion  of  Rhode  Island,  westward  as  far  as  Bennington  in  Ver 
mont,  and  as  far  north  as  Concord,  N.  H. 

Douglas-Lithgow,  Dictionary  of  American  Indian  Names, 
p.  375. 

The  Nipmuck  tribes  of  New  Hampshire,  occupying  the 
southern  part  of  this  territory,  constituted,  with  some  of  the 
Massachusetts  tribes,  what  was  known  as  the  Pennacook 
Confederacy,  of  which  the  illustrious  Passaconaway  was  the 
Bashaba.  They  lived  along  the  intervales  of  the  Pennacook, 
in  the  region  of  present  Bow,  Concord,  and  Boscawen,  in 

[451] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

fathoms  of  wampum,  ten  copper  kettles,  ten  large 
hempen  baskets,  and  a  considerable  quantity  of 
valuable  furs.  Foxon  admitted  the  offence,  but 
urged  that  Uncas  with  his  chief  men  at  that  time 
were  at  New  Haven  and  were  ignorant  of  the  affair; 
that  he  had  no  share  in  the  plunder;  and  that  some 
of  the  Mohegans  had  been  robbed  about  the  same 
time.1  Winthrop  complained,  further,  that  this 
same  brother  of  Uncas,  with  a  band  of  men,  some 
armed  with  guns,  had  at  Fisher's  Island  frightened 
an  Indian  and  broken  a  canoe.  Another  settler 
averred  that  Wawequa,  upon  his  return  from 
Fisher's  Island,  had  halted  his  canoes  off  the  settle 
ment;  that  his  movements  had  been  such  as  to 
cause  the  Indians  and  some  of  the  English  settlers 
to  immediately  betake  themselves  and  their  goods 
into  the  houses  of  the  colonists  for  safety.  Win 
throp  was  a  man  to  whom  the  commissioners  felt 
bound  to  listen,  and  Uncas  was  sentenced  to  pay 
a  fine  of  one  hundred  fathoms  of  wampum.  This 

Merrimac  County.  Of  the  other  confederated  tribes  were  the 
Nashuas  and  the  Sowhegans,  on  the  Merrimac;  the  Namaos- 
keags,  at  Amoskeag  Falls;  and  the  Winnepesaukees,  who 
lived  about  the  lake  of  that  name.  Confederated  with  them 
were  the  Agawams  (Ipswich),  Wamesits  .or  Pawtuckets 
(Lowell),  and  the  Pentuckets  (Haverhill).  Passaconaway  died 
about  1660. 

Douglas-Lithgow,  Dictionary  of  American  Indian  Names, 
Int.,  p.  xii. 

Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  p.  91. 

[452] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

fine  was  to  be  divided  among  those  of  the  English 
and  Indians  who  were  injured  in  the  foray  of  the 
Mohegans  against  the  Nipmucks;  and  Foxon  was 
dismissed  with  numerous  reproofs  and  admonitions, 
which  he  was  to  convey  to  the  avaricious  and  un 
scrupulous  tineas.1 

The  Pequods  refused  to  return  to  the  territory 
of  the  Mohegans,  against  whom  Uncas  made  com 
plaint  at  the  next  court,  which,  in  October,  1648, 
authorized  him  to  reduce  the  Pequods  to  obedience, 
a  resolution  being  passed,  as  well,  which  forbade 
any  one  from  offering  the  Pequods  shelter.  Uncas 
profited  little  by  this  order,  as  neither  by  force  nor 
persuasion  would  the  Pequods  again  live  with  the 
Mohegans.  After  this  they  distributed  themselves 
indiscriminately  among  the  Nehantics  and  Narra- 
gansetts,  where  they  maintained  a  precarious  ex 
istence,  or  herded  in  communities  unrecognized  by 
the  English. 

Soon  after  these  incidents  the  commissioners  were 
again  called  upon  to  defend  Uncas.  Uncas  had 
abducted  Sequassen2  from  the  territory  of  the 
Pocomtucks  of  Deerfield.  The  latter,  instigated  by 
gifts  of  wampum  from  the  Narragansetts  and  the 
Nehantics,  in  August,  1648,  gathered  a  large  body 
of  warriors  of  that  tribe.  Gifts  had  been  sent  to  the 

1  Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  p.  91. 

2  A  sachem  of  the  Tunxis  tribe,  who  sold  Hartford  to  the 
English.    He  was  also  known  as  Sequen,  or  Sequeen. 

[453] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

Mohawks,  as  well;  and  with  the  coming  of  this 
latter  tribe  the  combined  forces  were  to  march 
against  the  Mohegans.  Rumor  placed  the  number 
of  this  hostile  body  at  one  thousand;  that  three 
hundred  of  these  warriors  were  armed  with  mus 
kets;  that  the  Narragansetts  were  sending  their  old 
men,  women,  and  children  into  the  neighboring 
swamps  for  security,  and  had  mustered  a  force  of 
eight  hundred  men,  who  were  to  join  the  Pocom- 
tucks  and  the  Mohawks.  A  portion  of  the  Narra 
gansetts,  however,  under  Sachem  Hermon  Garret, 
separated  themselves  from  the  alleged  conspiracy 
to  occupy  a  portion  of  the  Narragansett  territory  at 
a  distance  from  the  possible  scene  of  action. 

Connecticut  became  alarmed,  and  apprehensive 
of  danger  to  the  colony,  as  well  as  the  ruin  of  Un- 
cas;  and  they  despatched  Thomas  Stanton,  with 
two  other  Englishmen,  to  the  rendezvous  of  the 
belligerents,  who  were  directed  to  obtain  informa 
tion  as  to  their  designs,  and  if  such  were  hostile  to 
the  Mohegans,  to  make  strenuous  protest  against 
their  carrying  out  of  that  purpose.  They  found  at 
Pocomtuck  a  large  body  of  warriors  who  were 
making  preparations  for  some  sort  of  an  expedition. 
The  sachem  received  them  politely.  Stanton  laid 
great  stress  upon  the  power  of  the  English  in  war, 
their  disposition  to  fairness,  and  finally  declared 
that  the  English  would  defend  Uncas  with  all  the 
resources  at  their  command.  The  reply  of  the  sa 
chem  was  that  they  were  aware  of  these  things,  and 

[454] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

had  no  desire  to  displease  the  English;  and  for  that 
reason  they  would  delay  their  purpose  for  a  further 
consideration.  This  willingness  on  the  part  of  the 
Pocomtucks  to  accede  to  the  demands  of  the  Eng 
lish  messenger  was  not  that  they  cared  so  much  to 
oblige  the  English,  as  it  was  based  upon  a  report 
brought  in  by  a  Mohawk  runner  that  his  tribe  had 
been  attacked  by  some  eastern  Indians,  instigated 
by  the  French,  and  that  they  were  obliged  to  keep 
their  warriors  at  home  as  a  matter  of  self-defence. 
This  incident  dissolved  the  league,  nor  was  Uncas 
ever  after  "threatened  by  so  formidable  a  combina 
tion."  This  conspiracy  on  the  part  of  the  Narra- 
gansetts  resulted  in  their  being  ordered  to  make 
good  their  tribute,  the  arrears  of  which  amounted  to 
two  thousand  fathoms  of  wampum. 

The  feeling  against  Uncas,  however,  did  not 
stop  here;  for  the  Indians  of  Rhode  Island,  con 
vinced  that  Uncas  was  not  to  be  disposed  of  by  an 
open  attack,  began  to  plot  for  the  riddance  of  their 
enemy  after  another  fashion.  The  following  year, 
1649,  numerous  complaints  of  the  Narragansetts 
were  made  by  Uncas  to  the  commissioners.  He 
said  they  were  plotting  against  him.  They  were 
trying  to  bring  the  Mohawks  upon  him.  They 
were  trying  to  put  an  end  to  his  life  by  witchcraft. 
They  had  neither  restored  his  canoes  nor  his  prison 
ers.  After  this,  Uncas  boarded  an  English  vessel 
which  lay  at  anchor  in  the  Thames.  A  Narragan- 
sett,  Cuttaquin,  who  was  also  on  the  vessel,  dis- 

[455] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

covering  Uncas,  made  a  sudden  attack  upon  the 
latter  with  a  sword,  by  which  Uncas  got  a  wound 
in  his  breast  which  was  at  the  time  supposed  to  be 
fatal.  Cuttaquin  was  arrested,  and  upon  being  in 
terrogated  by  some  of  the  English,  among  whom 
was  John  Mason,  as  to  why  he  committed  this  as 
sault,  he  replied  to  Mason:  "I  am  a  Narragansett; 
the  Narragansett  sachem  is  my  sachem;  they  came 
to  me  and  wished  me  to  kill  Uncas;  they  offered 
me  a  large  quantity  of  wampum,  and  I  accepted  it; 
this  wampum  I  spent,  and  was  placed  in  their 
power;  had  I  not  fulfilled  my  bargain  and  attempted 
to  kill  him,  they  would  have  slain  me."1  The 
savage  was  thereupon  delivered  to  the  Mohegans, 
and  was  taken  into  the  Mohegan  territory,  along 
with  the  sachem  he  had  attempted  to  kill. 

The  statement  of  Cuttaquin  so  directly  involved 
the  integrity  of  the  Narragansett  sachems  that  Nini- 
gret  felt  himself  obliged  to  present  himself  before 
the  commissioners  at  Boston,  where  he  endeavored 
to  clear  himself  and  Pessicus.  The  commissioners, 
however,  gave  little  credence  to  his  arguments,  and 
his  protest  that  he  was  innocent  impressed  them  but 

1  "A  Narragansett  Indian  named  Cuttaquin,  '  in  an  English 
vessel,  in  Mohegan  River,  ran  a  sword  into  his  [Uncas's]  breast, 
wherby  hee  receeved,  to  all  appearance,  a  mortal  wound, 
which  murtherus  acte  the  assalant  then  confessed  hee  was,  for 
a  considerable  sum  of  wampum,  by  the  Narragansett  and 
Nianticke  sachems,  hired  to  attempt/" 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  vol.  ii.,  p.  72. 

[456] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

slightly.  His  assertion  that  the  Mohegans  had  dis 
torted  the  tale  from  Cuttaquin  by  torturing  him 
was  met  upon  the  part  of  the  commissioners  by  the 
reply  that  the  savage  gave  his  relation  to  Mason 
before  he  was  delivered  into  the  hands  of  the 
Mohegans.  Ninigret  was  dismissed  with  numerous 
reproofs  and  threats,  and  a  message  was  despatched 
to  TJncas,  who  was  on  the  high  road  to  recovery, 
that  his  Narragansett  prisoner  was  at  his  disposal. 
There  is  no  record  of  his  fate  at  the  hands  of  the 
Mohegans.1 

Notwithstanding  the  restrictions  which  the  Eng 
lish  had  been  continually  putting  upon  the  Indians 
since  their  settlement  of  the  country,  the  independ 
ent  spirit  of  the  Narragansett  sachems  was  not 
quelled  in  any  degree.  Whatever  externals  of  sub 
mission  might  have  been  apparent,  underneath 
was  a  current  of  unrest  and  a  harboring  of  revenge. 
Ninigret2  was  one  of  those  spirits  whose  yielding  to 
the  English  was  entirely  superficial.  It  was  now 
rumored  that  this  sachem  was  about  to  bestow  his 
daughter  in  marriage  upon  the  brother  of  Sassacus, 
who  had  begun  to  exercise  some  influence  upon  the 

Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  129,  130. 

2  Ninigret,  or  Ninicraft,  was  the  great-sachem  of  the  Nian- 
tics,  of  the  Narragansett  family;  he  lived  at  Wekapaug 
[Westerly],  R.  I.,  and  married  a  sister  of  Cashawashett  [Her- 
mon  Garret]. 

Douglas-Lithgow,  Dictionary  of  American  Indian  Names, 
p.  333. 

[457] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

wandering  Pequods  by  collecting  them  about  him, 
as  if  he  intended  to  take  up  the  mantle  of  his  an 
cestors.  The  English  surmised  the  object  of  this 
to  be  the  weakening  of  the  Mohegans  by  with 
drawing  from  that  tribe  such  Pequods  as  had  made 
a  common  interest  with  them,  which  would  natu 
rally  result  in  the  building  up  of  a  new  tribe,  which 
could  not  be  other  than  actuated  by  its  ancient 
hatred  for  the  Mohegans,  and  who  for  that  reason 
might  possibly  become  a  formidable  factor  for  war 
or  peace.  The  English,  taking  this  rumor  for  a 
certainty,  with  their  usual  celerity  in  heading  off 
designs  of  this  character,  despatched  messengers 
into  the  country  of  the  Narragansetts  and  Nehan- 
tics,  whose  sachems  were  charged  with  the  fact. 
They  further  purposed  to  carry  on  such  inquiry  of 
the  matter  as  would  afford  them  full  knowledge  of 
existing  conditions,  and,  as  well,  to  demand  of  the 
Narragansetts  the  tribute  of  wampum,  which  was 
greatly  in  arrears.  Whatever  basis  there  may  have 
been  for  the  origin  of  the  report  to  the  English  as  to 
the  marriage  of  Ninigret's  daughter,  or  the  amalga 
mation  of  the  Pequods,  there  is  no  further  record 
to  be  had.1 

Uncas  had  become  to  the  English  a  necessary 
evil,  and  his  complaints  against  the  tribes  neighbor 
ing  upon  the  Mohegans  had  become  almost  con 
tinuous.  In  September  of  1650  he  complained  to 

Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  p.  152. 

[458] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

the  commissioners  that  a  sachem  of  Long  Island, 
named  Monhansick,  had  taken  the  lives  of  several 
of  his  people,  and  had  bewitched  others,  among 
whom  was  himself.  It  was  evident  that  the  com 
missioners  were  not  prepared  to  give  much  credence 
to  the  charge  of  witchcraft;  but  the  killing  of  the 
Mohegans  was  a  different  matter,  and  proceedings 
were  taken  to  ascertain  the  innocence  or  guilt  of 
the  Long  Island  sachem.  If  found  guilty  he  was  to 
give  Uncas  such  satisfaction  as  he  required;  and  if 
he  refused  the  English  were  to  resort  to  their  usual 
method  of  intimidation  by  threatening  him  with 
their  active  displeasure.1 

These  incidents  in  the  career  of  Uncas  delineate 
his  character  with  a  singular  completeness.  Tyran 
nically  ambitious,  he  was  deeply  suspicious;  jealous 
of  the  prosperity  of  others,  he  was  absolutely  with 
out  honesty,  mean  to  a  nicety,  and  inordinately 
greedy.  Hated  by  the  sachems  of  the  surrounding 
tribes,  they  neglected  no  opportunity  of  injuring 
him,  the  real  cause  of  which  was  undoubtedly  his 
secure  standing  with  the  English,  whose  dirty  work 
he  had  performed  without  question.  It  was  he  who 
led  Mason,  under  cover  of  the  darkness  of  the 
night,  to  the  fort  of  the  Pequods.  The  accuser  of 
Miantunnumoh,  and  his  murderer  as  well,  at  the 
instigation  of  the  English;  the  oppressor  of  such 
Pequods  as  had  been  allotted  to  him  as  his  share  of 

Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  150,  151. 
[459] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

the  spoils;  the  abductor  of  Sequassen,  by  whom  he 
was  surrendered  to  the  Connecticut  magistrates; 
the  unmitigated  slanderer  of  every  neighboring  sa 
chem  who  was  too  troublesome  and  too  dangerous 
for  him  to  attack  openly;  a  brute,  physically;  thor 
oughly  inoculated  with  the  serum  of  cowardice  ;  — 
this  was  the  man  to  whom  the  English  through  all 
these  early  years  lent  their  countenance  and  pro 
tection. 

In  1651  Sequassen  had  returned  to  his  own  coun 
try,  having  been  set  at  liberty,  and  the  white  settlers 
seemed  to  have  done  him  some  favor,  which 
greatly  grieved  Uncas,  who,  after  his  usual  fashion, 
carried  his  complaint  to  the  commissioners.  He 
said,  "Sequassen  was  set  up  and  they  were  going 
to  make  a  great  sachem  of  him;  and  yet  he  refused 
to  pay  their  friend  Uncas,  an  acknowledgment  of 
wampum,  which  he  owed  him  as  his  conqueror." 
The  commissioners  descended  from  their  position 
so  far  as  to  avow  to  this  low-bred  sachem  that  they 
had  no  intention  of  lending  to  Sequassen  any  aid 
to  greatness  ;  and  with  their  customary  subservience 
to  the  whims  of  this  fellow,  they  recommended  to 
the  government  of  Connecticut  to  see  that  Uncas 
received  his  rights,  following  this  with  the  dis 
claimer  that  as  to  the  tribute  of  allegiance  claimed 
by  Uncas  they  were  wholly  ignorant.1 

Two  years  later,  1653,  in  the  early  spring,  Uncas 


,  vol.  ii.,  p.  190. 

[460] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

made  his  way  to  the  residence  of  Governor  Haynes, 
at  Hartford,  to  deposit  a  new  complaint  against  the 
Narragansetts  and  the  Nehantics,  the  burden  of 
which  was  that  the  latter  were  confederating  with 
the  Dutch  of  New  Netherlands  against  him.  He 
said,  "Ninigret  has  been  to  Manhattan  and  formed 
a  league  with  the  Dutch  governor.  He  made  the 
governor  a  present  of  a  great  quantity  of  wampum 
and  the  governor  made  him  a  present  of  a  large 
box  of  powder  and  bullets.  Then  Ninigret  went  to 
a  council  of  Indians  over  the  Hudson  River,  and 
made  a  speech  to  them,  asking  their  help  against 
Uncas  and  the  English." 

He  also  related  this  circumstance,  which  is  in 
dicative  of  savage  custom  and  superstition.  He 
said  that,  two  years  before,  Ninigret  had  made  a 
gift  of  wampum  to  the  Monheag  sachem,1  asking 
him  to  send  him  a  man  skilful  in  the  use  of  poisons 
and  magic.  He  promised  one  hundred  fathoms  of 
wampum  additional  upon  the  return  of  the  sorcerer. 
Informed  of  this  plot,  Uncas  set  a  watch  both  by 
land  and  by  sea,  by  which  the  canoe  containing  the 
Mohican  medicine-man  was  intercepted  and  that 
individual  captured.  With  the  savage  empiric 
were  six  other  savages,  one  of  whom  was  a  Pequod ; 
another  was  a  brother  of  the  Monheag,  whose  name 
was  Wampeag.  The  remainder  were  of  the  Narra- 


1  Probably  the  Mohican  tribe  whose  habitat  was  along  the 
Hudson  River. 

[461] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

gansetts.  The  prisoners  were  carried  to  Mohegan 
by  his  men  for  examination.  The  Monheag  and 
one  of  the  Narragansetts  confessed  the  plot;  and 
upon  identifying  the  sorcerer,  the  Mohegans,  with 
unrestrained  rage,  killed  him.1 

The  quarrel  between  Ninigret  and  the  English 
continued  through  this  year,  1653;  until,  in  the 
following  year,  the  commissioners  declared  war 
against  this  sachem,  and  a  force  of  two  hundred 
seventy  infantry-men  and  forty  good  cavalry-men 
were  raised  to  prosecute  him.  Major  Willard  was 
in  command,  and  as  he  advanced  into  the  Nehantic 
country  the  Nehantics  made  no  defence,  but  left 
their  dwellings  and  crops  to  the  mercy  of  the  Eng 
lish,  in  their  flight  taking  refuge  in  a  swamp  for 
safety.  Willard  was  accompanied  by  a  number  of 
Pequods.  As  a  party  of  Willard 's  Pequods  were 
going  through  the  woods,  while  endeavoring  to 
locate  the  hiding-place  of  the  Nehantics,  intending 
to  use  their  persuasion  with  the  Pequods  who  had 
found  asylum  among  the  Nehantics,  and  if  possible 
cause  their  desertion,  they  came  across  three  Pe 
quods  who  were  of  Ninigret's  party.  After  a  parley 
between  the  Nehantic  Pequods  and  those  of  Wil- 
lard's  force,  seventy-three  Pequods  who  had  been 
allied  to  Ninigret  came  into  Willard's  camp,  and 
the  day  after  they  were  followed  by  sixty-three 
more.  The  character  of  this  war  was  not  marked 

Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  p.  211. 

[462] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

by  any  particular  energy,  and  the  destruction  of 
Ninigret  and  his  people,  as  was  intended  by  the 
colonies,  was  not  consummated,  Ninigret  was 
allowed  to  become  a  party  to  a  peace  by  which  his 
power  was  practically  broken,  and  the  records  of 
those  times  have  very  little  more  to  mention  of  him.1 
It  is  evident  that  the  Pequods  who  came  over  to 
Willard  were  not  delivered  to  Uncas,  as  the  latter 
complained  of  that  fact  to  the  commissioners,  who, 
willing  to  please  Uncas  anew,  remanded  all  arrears 
of  tribute  to  such  of  the  Pequods  as  should  return 
to  the  Mohegan  country. 

In  1656  Uncas  had  made  a  compact  of  friend 
ship  with  Sequassen,  the  same  delivered  by  him 
into  the  hands  of  the  English  previously.  A  Podunk 
had  killed  a  relative  of  Sequassen;  he,  taking  um 
brage  at  this  outrage,  made  an  effort  to  apprehend 
the  murderer,  which  the  Podunks  prevented,  where 
upon  Sequassen  requested  Uncas  to  assist  him  in 
the  matter.  Uncas,  who  was  always  open  to  oppor 
tunities  which  would  enable  him  to  get  into  a 
profitable  broil  with  his  neighbors,  entertained  the 
complaint  of  Sequassen,  and  bringing  the  matter 
before  the  English  as  a  preparatory  step  in  his 
aggression,  the  commissioners  summoned  all  the 

1  For  a  relation  of  the  various  difficulties  in  which  Ninigret 
became  involved  at  one  time  and  another  with  the  English 
and  the  neighboring  savage  tribes,  vide  Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  pp. 
308-381,  passim. 

[463] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

parties  interested.  Webster  was  governor  of  Con 
necticut  at  that  time,  and  when  he  sought  to  be  in 
formed  of  the  character  of  the  satisfaction  required, 
Uncas's  advocate,  Foxon,  alleged  that  the  murdered 
sagamore  was  a  great  sachem;  and,  as  well,  that  the 
man  who  killed  him  was  a  very  "mean  fellow." 
They  insisted  upon  the  surrender  of  the  murderer 
and  nine  of  the  Podunk  tribe.  These  latter  entered 
a  plea  that  Weasepano  had  done  righteously,  be 
cause  the  dead  sachem  had  killed  one  of  his  uncles. 
The  court  was  divided  in  its  opinion;  the  governor 
laid  down  the  law  that  the  man  who  committed  the 
crime  was  the  only  one  liable  to  punishment,  and 
urged  upon  the  savages  that  a  friendly  settlement 
of  the  matter  be  had.  The  Podunks  then  offered 
wampum  in  settlement,  which  was  refused  by  Un- 
cas  and  Sequassen,  who  reduced  their  demand  for 
victims  by  four.  They  insisted  upon  six  Podunks 
being  delivered  to  them  for  punishment.  Wearied 
with  the  long  and  uninterpretable  harangues  of  the 
contending  parties,  the  commissioners  urged  Ton- 
tonimo,  the  Podunk  sachem,  to  surrender  the  mur 
derer.  Pretending  to  consent,  he  evaded  the  imme 
diate  fulfilment  of  his  promise  by  withdrawing  him 
self  and  his  followers,  unnoticed  by  the  magistrates, 
after  which  he  hastened  away  to  his  fort. 

This  was  not  only  displeasing  to  Uncas  and 
Sequassen,  but  the  commissioners  regarded  it  as  a 
deception  practised  upon  themselves,  and  imme 
diately  despatched  a  messenger  to  Tontonimo  with 

[464] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

an  order  that  they  should  observe  their  compact. 
Uncas  finally  was  persuaded  to  accept  of  the  mur 
derer  alone;  but  still  denied  by  the  Podunks,  upon 
the  plea  that  the  friends  of  the  criminal  were  so 
powerful,  and  there  were  so  many  of  them  in  the 
fort,  that  he  wras  unable  to  make  this  concession. 
After  thinking  the  matter  over,  the  commissioners 
came  to  the  sensible  conclusion  that  it  was  n't  any 
matter  of  theirs;  and,  calling  the  complainants  be 
fore  them,  they  urged  Uncas  to  take  the  wampum 
which  had  been  offered.  If  he  decided  not  to  do  that 
the  Mohegans  were  to  dispose  of  the  matter  among 
themselves,  in  accordance  with  their  own  ideas  of 
justice  —  a  license  that  was  limited  by  a  condition 
that  none  of  the  English  should  be  interfered  with, 
and  that  in  case  they  should  come  into  open  conflict 
with  the  Podunks,  no  fighting  should  take  place  on 
the  west  side  of  the  river.  This  was  agreed  to  by 
the  deputies,  and  the  court  adjourned.1 

This  was  in  accordance  with  Uncas's  desire, 
whereupon  he  assembled  a  war-party  with  the 
purpose  of  invading  the  country  of  the  Podunks. 
With  his  usual  cowardice,  being  intercepted  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Hockanum  River  by  the  enemy, 
whose  numbers  were  apparently  equal  to  his  own, 
he  decided  that  discretion  was  the  better  part  of 
valor.  After  sending  a  message  to  the  Podunk 
sachem  that  he  would  bring  the  Mohawks  down 

lColonial  Records,  vol.  i.,  pp.  304,  305. 
[465] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

upon  him,  Uncas  made  his  way  back  to  Mohegan. 
However,  by  means  of  a  stratagem,  he  obtained  the 
surrender  of  Weasepano.1 

In  the  following  year,  1657,  Uncas  again  found 
himself  threatened  by  the  Narragansetts  and  the 
Nehantics,  the  number  of  whose  fighting-men  had 
been  increased  by  detachments  from  the  Pocom- 
tucks  and  the  Norwootucks,  two  Massachusetts 
tribes,  who  at  the  outset,  with  the  assistance  of 
some  Pequods,  surprised  a  canoeful  of  Mohegans 
and  massacred  them.2  It  was  in  this  raid  that 
Pessicus3  made  an  invasion  of  the  Mohegan  coun 
try,  and,  driving  Uncas  into  one  of  his  fortresses, 
was  in  a  way  of  finally  getting  him  into  his  power. 

*A  Mohegan  warrior  supplied  with  Mohawk  weapons  was 
sent  into  the  Podunk  country,  where  he  set  fire  to  a  wigwam 
under  cover  of  the  darkness.  Dropping  his  weapons  near  the 
place,  he  quietly  made  his  way  back  to  his  own  people.  The 
next  day  the  Podunks  left  their  fort  to  investigate  the  ruins, 
and  possibly  to  discover  some  sign  by  which  the  incendiarist 
might  be  pursued.  Seeing  the  weapons,  they  were  at  once 
satisfied  that  the  Mohawks  were  out  on  a  raid  and  that  Uncas 
had  begun  to  carry  out  his  threat.  They  were  so  disturbed 
over  the  matter,  and  the  possibility  of  having  to  maintain  a 
dreaded  war  with  the  Iroquois,  that  they  at  once  sent  the 
murderer  to  Uncas  and  made  peace  with  the  Mohegans. 

Dr.  Dwight's  Travels,  vol.  ii.,  p.  282. 

2  Hazard,  vol.  ii. 

3  Pessicus  was  a  noted  Narragansett  sachem  after  the  death 
of  his  brother  Miantunnumoh.   Before  that,  he  was  a  Niantic 
sachem.   Born  in  1623,  he  was  killed  across  the  Maine  border 

[466] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

He  probably  would  have  succeeded  had  it  not  been 
for  the  appearance  of  a  small  party  of  English, 
which  had  been  despatched  by  the  Connecticut 
Colony  to  the  relief  of  Uncas.  Upon  the  approach 
of  the  English  the  Narragansetts  at  once  retired; 
and  the  Mohegans,  encouraged  likewise,  began  a 
furious  pursuit  of  the  Narragansetts,  overtaking 
many  of  them,  whom  they  at  once  put  to  death.1 

This  quarrel  grew  out  of  the  differences  between 
Uncas  and  the  Podunks,  who  were  in  a  rage  once 
they  had  discovered  how  easily  they  had  been 
duped  into  surrendering  Weasepano.  Uncas  again 
found  himself  in  court  to  answer  to  the  complaint  of 
these  two  Massachusetts  tribes,  who  alleged  that 
Uncas  had  made  war  upon  and  driven  their  old 
friends  the  Podunks  from  their  country.  By  the 
direction  of  the  commissioners  the  government  of 
Connecticut  notified  the  Podunks  to  return  to  their 
country,  and  directed  Uncas  to  let  them  alone. 
The  Pocomtuck  and  Norwootuck  sachems  were 
informed  of  this  proceeding,  and  were  likewise  en 
joined  from  entering  into  any  hostilities  upon  Uncas 
until  the  Court  of  the  Commissioners  should  again 


convene.2 


during  the  Indian  wars  which  prevailed  in  that  section  of  the 
country,  by  the  Mohawks.  He  was  known  by  the  name  of 
Pissacus,  as  well. 

Douglas-Lithgow,  Dictionary  of  American  Indian  Names. 

^History  of  Norwich,  pp.  30,  31. 

2 Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  384,  385. 

[467] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

The  result  of  this  action  could  not  but  reveal  to 
the  English  the  futility  of  any  attempt  to  harmonize 
these  warring  factions  among  the  savages;  for  in 
1658  the  Mohegans  were  again  invaded  by  prac 
tically  the  same  confederation  that  had  driven 
Uncas  into  his  fort  the  previous  year.  The  Mohe- 
gan  sachem  again  took  refuge  in  his  fort,1  while 
those  besieging  him  made  the  serious  mistake  of 
committing  some  violence  upon  neighboring  Eng 
lish  settlements.  Upon  being  informed  that  two  of 
the  settlers,  Brewster  and  Thompson,  had  supplied 
the  Mohegans  with  ammunition,  and  that  Brewster, 
especially,  had  lent  his  house  to  some  of  the  Mohe 
gans  as  a  temporary  refuge,  some  musket-shots  as 
well  coming  from  the  side  of  the  river  where  Brew- 

1  "During  the  war  between  the Narragansets  and  Uncas,  the 
former  once  besieged  the  fort  of  the  latter,  until  his  provisions 
were  nearly  exhausted,  and  he  found  that  his  men  must  soon 
perish,  either  by  famine  or  the  tomahawk,  unless  speedily 
relieved.  In  this  crisis,  he  found  means  of  communicating  an 
account  of  his  situation  to  the  English  scouts,  who  had  been 
despatched  from  the  fort  in  Saybrook  to  reconnoitre  the 
enemy.  Uncas  represented  the  danger  to  which  the  English 
would  be  exposed,  if  the  Narragansets  should  succeed  in  de 
stroying  the  Mohegans.  It  was  at  this  critical  juncture  that 
the  greatest  portion  of  the  English  troops  in  Connecticut  were 
employed  on  an  expedition  abroad.  A  Mr.  Thomas  Leffing- 
well,  however,  a  bold  and  enterprising  man,  on  learning  the 
situation  of  Uncas,  loaded  a  canoe  with  provisions,  and  under 
cover  of  the  night  paddled  from  Saybrook  into  the  river 

[468] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

ster's  house  was  located,  their  suspicions  were 
aroused,  and  a  few  Pocomtucks  forded  the  river  to 
discover  the  source  of  these  attacks.  Not  finding 
any  one,  they  went  to  Brewster's  house;  and  being 
balked  in  trying  to  gain  entrance  to  the  same,  they 
repaid  themselves  for  their  trouble  by  carrying  off 
a  quantity  of  corn  and  some  other  property.  The 
Pocomtuck  sachem  Annapecom  reprimanded  those 
engaged  in  this  foray,  and  made  them  return  the 
property  so  taken.  Brewster,  still  dissatisfied,  after 
the  invading  forces  had  retired,  complained  to  the 
commissioners,  who  imposed  a  fine  of  forty  fathoms 
of  wampum  upon  the  confederates.  When  that 
portion  of  the  fine  which  was  to  be  exacted  of  the 
Pocomtucks  was  levied  upon  their  sachem,  Annap 
ecom  made  the  following  dignified  response:  "We 
desire  the  English  sachems  not  to  persuade  us  of  a 
peace  with  Uncas,  for  we  have  experience  of  his 

Thames,  and  had  the  address  to  get  the  whole  into  the  fort. 
The  enemy  soon  after,  discovering  that  Uncas  had  received 
supplies,  raised  the  siege.  For  this  piece  of  service,  Uncas 
presented  Mr.  Leffingwell  with  a  deed  of  a  very  large  tract  of 
land,  now  comprising  the  whole  town  of  Norwich." 

Trumbull,  Indian  Wars,  p.  62. 

Trumbull  states  this  as  history.  Drake  quotes  Rev.  Wm. 
Ely,  who  regards  it  as  a  tradition  of  respectable  origin,  yet 
open  to  doubt. 

Ely,  MS.  Letter. 

Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians,  vol.  ii.,  p.  95. 

[469] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

falseness,  and  we  know  that  if  he  promise  much,  he 
will  perform  nothing.  Also,  if  messengers  are  sent 
to  us  from  the  English,  we  desire  that  they  may  not 
be  liars  and  tale-bearers,  but  sober  men  and  such 
as  we  can  understand."1  This  last  attempt  termi 
nates  the  invasions  of  the  Mohegan  country,  and 
no  more  conflicts  between  the  Mohegans  and  the 
Narragansetts  are  mentioned. 

It  is  recorded  that  the  restless  spirit  of  Uncas 
would  not  allow  him  to  observe  a  peaceful  demeanor 
toward  his  neighbors  for  any  length  of  time,  and  he 
was  no  sooner  out  of  one  complication  than  he  be 
came  involved  in  another. 

It  was  in  August  of  this  same  year  that  some  of 
his  warriors  killed  a  man  and  two  women,  savages 
of  two  Narragansett  sachems  who  were  tributary  to 
the  Massachusetts  government.  Other  Mohegans 
made  captive  six  Nipmucks,  killing  one  and  wound 
ing  another.  The  Narragansetts  and  the  Nipmucks 
complained  to  the  commissioners,  before  whom 
Uncas  was  ordered  to  appear  at  the  next  court;  but 
wTith  their  usual  compliance  in  all  matters  where 
Uncas  was  concerned,  this  was  the  last  heard  of 
that  complaint.2 

Possibly  emboldened  by  this  indifference  of  the 
commissioners,  or  impelled  by  a  disposition  for 
aggression,  which  seemed  to  have  no  bounds,  in 

Hazard,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  396-423. 
2Ibid,  p.  388. 

[470] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

1661  Uncas  attacked  the  Quabaugs,  a  tribe  of 
eastern  Massachusetts,  some  of  whom  he  killed 
and  some  of  whom  he  made  captives,  despoiling 
their  settlement  and  carrying  off  plunder  which 
was  estimated  at  thirty-three  pounds  sterling.  The 
tribe  attacked  by  Uncas  was  subject  to  Massasoit, 
who  at  this  time  was  nearing  the  end  of  his  career, 
having  arrived  at  a  ripe  old  age.  Massachusetts, 
upon  being  informed  of  this  raid,  made  immediate 
demand  upon  the  Mohegans  to  restore  the  captives 
to  liberty;  and,  as  well,  to  return  the  property  they 
had  carried  away.  Uncas  did  not  reply  to  this  de 
mand;  and,  the  affair  being  some  time  after  com 
mitted  to  the  commissioners,  John  Mason  was  des 
patched  to  the  Mohegans  for  satisfaction.  Uncas, 
with  his  usual  duplicity,  responded  that  the  previous 
order  of  Massachusetts  had  been  received  by  him 
some  twenty  days  before  Mason's  arrival,  and  he 
denied  any  knowledge  of  the  Quabaugs  being  under 
the  protection  of  the  English,  asserting  that  it  was 
not  a  fact  that  they  were  tributary  to  Massasoit, 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  they  were  the  subjects  of 
Onopequin,  who  was  regarded  by  the  Mohegans 
as  one  of  their  worst  enemies.  He  excused  himself 
with  the  assertion  that  Massasoit's  people,  along 
with  Wamsutta,  the  eldest  son  of  the  Wampanoag 
sachem,  had  made  many  attacks  upon  the  Mohe 
gans,  and  that  he  had  anticipated  the  demands  of 
the  English  by  giving  the  Quabaugs  their  liberty. 
This  was  the  end  of  the  matter;  for  it  is  evident  that 

[471] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

no  further  reparation  was  made  upon  the  part  of 
Uncas.1 

In  the  years  following,  various  regulations  were 
adopted  by  the  Connecticut  government  by  which 
the  intercourse  between  the  Indians  and  the  whites 
was  to  become  more  limited.  The  Indians  were 
not  allowed  to  live  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  any 
English  settlement;  and  if  they  brought  their  guns 
into  the  settlement  they  were  to  be  confiscated. 
One  tribe  was  not  allowed  to  entertain  wandering 
members  of  other  tribes;  and  in  no  case  was  a 
strange  Indian  to  be  admitted  to  the  settlements, 
unless  fleeing  from  his  enemy.  Drunkenness  pre 
vailed  among  the  savages,  and  the  settlements  were 
at  times  disturbed  by  their  attempts  to  obtain 
liquor,  and  all  Indians  were  forbidden  to  walk 
about  the  streets  after  nightfall,  under  penalty  of 
a  fine  or  flogging.  The  English  were  not  allowed  to 
take  the  property  of  an  Indian  for  debt  without 
consent,  or  upon  legal  warrant;  and  later  it  was 
enacted  that  such  as  trusted  an  Indian  with  goods 
were  deprived  of  all  right  to  appeal  to  law  for  the 
recovering  of  the  same.2 

It  was  during  these  years  that  the  efforts  for  the 
Christianizing  of  the  Indians  were  going  on  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Society  for  Propagating  the 
Gospel  in  New  England;  and  it  is  noted  that  at 


,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  450,  451. 
2  Colonial  Records,  vol.  iii. 

[472] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

this  time  the  Mohegans,  as  well  as  the  other  Con 
necticut  tribes,  had  little  if  any  knowledge  of  Chris 
tianity,  and  were  still  to  be  regarded  as  among  the 
heathen.  Their  practices  were  confined  to  their 
belief  in  God  and  other  spirits.  Charms,  incanta 
tions,  their  dances  and  powwowings,  were  in  con 
formity  to  their  ancient  superstitions.  Under  the 
teachings  of  Fitch,  in  1674,  the  religious  converts 
among  the  Connecticut  Indians  were  estimated  at 
thirty  men  and  women  and  some  few  children.  In 
1671  Uncas  was  approached,  and  the  permission  of 
the  sachems  was  gained,  by  which  Mr.  Fitch  began 
his  religious  teachings  at  Mohegan,  which  was  re 
ported  to  the  General  Court  of  Connecticut.  As 
an  inducement  to  the  Mohegans  to  receive  Mr. 
Fitch,  the  General  Court  notified  the  Mohegans 
that  all  those  who  received  the  Christian  religion 
would  be  especially  favored,  while  those  who  op 
posed  and  rejected  it  would  be  afforded  their  dis 
pleasure  —  which  is  not  suggestive  of  the  meek 
and  lowly  spirit  conveyed  in  the  teaching  of  the 
Nazarene. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  opinion  as  to  the 
conversion  of  Uncas,  the  wish  being  doubtless 
father  to  the  thought,  contemporary  writers  upon 
this  subject  have  held  to  the  idea  that  the  Mohegan 
sachem  had  a  "theoretical  belief  in  the  doctrine  of 
Christianity."1 

"In  1674,  Daniel  Gookin  and  John  Eliot,  while  on  a  mis- 
[473] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  in  these  last  days  of  Uncas 
he  was  the  leading  spirit  in  all  the  warlike  disposi- 


sionary  tour  among  the  aborigines,  came  to  a  village  of 
Christian  Indians  at  Wabequasset  in  what  is  now  the  south 
eastern  part  of  Woodstock.  The  two  clergymen  spent  a 
great  part  of  the  night  with  the  principal  inhabitants  praying, 
exhorting  and  singing  psalms.  There  was  one  Indian  present, 
a  stranger,  who  took  no  part  in  the  devotions,  and  for  a  long 
time  remained  silent.  At  last  he  rose  and  announced  that  he 
was  a  deputy  of  Uncas,  sachem  of  Mohegan;  and  that  in  his 
name  he  challenged  a  right  to,  and  dominion  over,  this  people 
of  Wabequasset.  'And,'  he  said  to  the  two  ministers,  'Uncas 
is  not  well  pleased  that  the  English  should  pass  over  Mohegan 
River  to  call  his  Indians  to  pray  to  God.' 

"Gookin  replied  that  Wabequasset  was  not  subject  to 
Uncas,  but  belonged  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts. 
And  no  harm  need  be  feared,  he  continued,  were  it  otherwise; 
for  the  only  object  of  the  English  in  preaching  to  the  Indians 
is  to  bring  them  to  a  knowledge  of  Christ,  and  suppress  among 
them  the  sins  of  drunkenness,  idolatry,  powwowing,  witch 
craft  and  murder.  Gookin  told  the  messenger  to  report  this 
answer  to  his  master;  and  he  no  doubt  meant  it,  in  part,  as  a 
lecture  to  the  sachem  upon  his  own  habits  and  character. 
This  circumstance  took  place  nine  years  before  the  death  of 
Uncas,  and  when  he  was  already  an  old  man  of  probably 
seventy  summers.  In  another  passage,  Gookin  mentions  the 
Mohegan  sachem  as  'an  old,  wicked  and  willful  man,  a  drunk 
ard  and  otherwise  vicious,'  and  tells  us  that  he  'had  always 
been  an  opposer  and  underminer  of  praying  to  God ; '  and  he 
suspected  him  of  being  a  great  obstruction  to  the  labors  of 
Mr.  Fitch." 

DeForest,  History  of  the  Indians  of  Connecticut,  pp.  276, 
277. 

[474] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

tions  on  the  part  of  the  Mohegans;  that  at  the 
breaking  out  of  King  Philip's  War,  they,  with  the 
Pequods,  remained  loyal  to  the  English.  It  was 
discovered  by  some  of  the  settlers  of  Rhode  Island, 
in  the  course  of  this  war,  that  some  of  the  Narra- 
gansetts  disappeared  at  times,  to  return  to  their 
tribes  wounded.  Their  conclusion  was  that  the 
Narragansetts  were  friendly  to  Philip;  and  they 
were  convinced  of  it  upon  the  fact  being  made  ap 
parent  that  this  tribe  was  sheltering  Philip's  old 
men,  women,  and  children,  and  it  was  decided  that 
an  expedition  should  be  made  against  the  Narra 
gansetts.  A  force  of  one  thousand  men  was  mobil 
ized.  One  hundred  fifty  Mohegans  and  Pequods 
under  the  command  of  Oweneco  and  Catapazet,  a 
son  of  Hermon  Garret,  went  with  this  army  against 
the  Narragansetts.  It  was  in  mid-winter;  and  this 
expedition  being  entirely  successful,  the  Pequods 
had  the  intense  satisfaction  of  watching  the  Narra- 
gansett  fortress  disappear  in  fire  and  smoke,  as 
their  own  had  been  destroyed  years  before.1 

Canonchet  was  captured  in  this  expedition;  and 
of  the  Narragansetts,  some  fifty  were  killed  and 
captured.  Among  these  were  the  leading  men  of 
the  Narragansetts.  During  the  open  season  of  this 
year  the  Narragansetts  were  practically  driven  out 
of  their  country.2  Only  the  Nehantics  remained, 

'Hubbard's  Indian  Wars,  pp.  129-144. 
2  Thus  circumstanced  and  harassed  by  the  Pequots,  by  the 
[475] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

by  reason  that  they  had  taken  no  part  in  King 
Philip's  War.  It  is  recorded  that  of  the  Narragan- 
setts  in  these  various  expeditions,  two  hundred 
thirty-nine  were  killed  or  captured;  one  hundred 
bushels  of  corn  and  fifty  muskets  were  taken.  The 
singular  fact  remains  that  not  a  single  English 
man,  Pequod,  or  Mohegan  was  killed  or  died  of 
wounds  in  these  various  forays. 

Among  the  prisoners  taken  by  the  Mohegans 
was  a  young  warrior  whose  remarkable  courage 
had  singled  him  out  for  the  torture,  to  which  the 
English  gave  their  consent.  Hubbard  says:  "Lest 
their  denial  should  disoblige  their  Indian  friends, 
of  whom  they  had  lately  made  so  much  use;  partly 
that  they  might  have  ocular  demonstration  of  the 
barbarous  cruelty  of  the  heathen."1 

English,  who  had  evidently  forgotten  their  aid  in  subduing 
the  Pequots,  the  prey  of  the  rapacious  Mohegans,  the  Narra- 
gansetts  appealed  to  the  Crown.  Charles  n.  received  the 
agents  of  this  unfortunate  tribe,  who  besought  the  royal  coun 
tenance  and  protection;  nor  was  the  appeal  disregarded  by 
the  king,  whose  sympathies  were  not  over-stirred  in  favor  of 
his  New  England  subjects.  Instructions  were  despatched  to 
the  Royal  Commissioners  of  New  England  to  make  a  special 
inquiry  into  the  case  of  the  Narragansetts.  They  came,  how 
ever,  too  late:  the  people  over  whom  Canonicus  had  ruled 
were  beyond  relief.  They  had  well-nigh  ceased  to  exist;  but 
their  wrongs,  by  this  appeal  to  the  Great  Father  across  the 
waters,  had  reached  for  them  the  court  of  last  resort. 
Freeman,  Civilization  and  Barbarism,  p.  79. 
"The  young  captive,  unappalled  by  the  dreadful  fate 
[476] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

Most  of  the  captives  were  first  given  in  charge  of 
Uncas,  but  were  finally  withdrawn  from  his  guard 
ianship,  to  whom  three  hundred  acres  of  land  were 
assigned  upon  a  point  formed  upon  the  junction  of 
the  Shetucket  and  Quinnebaug  Rivers.  Others 
were  scattered  among  the  Pequods;  and  it  was 
about  this  time  that  one  of  the  Shetucket  Colony 
was  killed,  along  with  seven  others  who  were 
employed  by  Mr.  Fitch  upon  his  Norwich  farm. 
Uncas  was  suspected  of  the  outrage,  but,  protesting 

which  awaited  him,  stood  up,  after  the  fashion  of  Indian 
warriors,  and  boasted  his  exploits.  'I  have  shot  nineteen 
English  with  my  gun.  I  loaded  it  for  the  twentieth.  I  could 
not  meet  another  and  let  it  fly  at  a  Mohegan.  I  killed  him 
and  completed  my  number.  Now  I  am  fully  satisfied.' 

"The  Mohegans  formed  a  circle,  and  placed  the  victim  in 
the  center  where  all  could  gaze  upon  his  tortures.  They  de 
liberately  cut  round  one  of  his  fingers  at  the  joint,  where  it 
united  with  the  hand,  and  then  broke  it  off.  They  cut,  in  a 
similar  manner,  another  and  another,  until  only  the  stump  of 
the  hand  was  left.  The  blood  flowed  in  streams,  sometimes 
spirting  out  a  yard  from  the  wounds.  Some  of  the  English 
wept  at  the  horrid  sight,  but  no  one  interfered.  The  victim 
shrunk  not  from  the  knife  and  showed  no  signs  of  anguish. 
*  How  do  you  like  the  war  ? '  tauntingly  asked  his  tormentors. 
'I  like  it  well/  he  said;  *I  find  it  as  sweet  as  Englishmen  do 
their  sugar.'  They  cut  off  his  toes  as  they  had  done  his  fingers, 
and  then  made  him  dance  round  the  circle  till  he  was  weary. 
At  last  they  broke  the  bones  of  his  legs.  He  sank  upon  the 
ground,  and  sat  in  silence  until  they  dashed  out  his  brains." 

DeForest,  History  of  the  Indians  of  Connecticut,  pp.  284, 
285. 

[477] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

his  innocence,  intimated  that  these  crimes  had 
been  committed  by  some  guerilla  savages  who  occa 
sionally  were  to  be  discovered  wandering  about  the 
woods.  In  regard  to  this  matter,  Mr.  Fitch  wrote 
a  letter  to  the  General  Court  in  which  he  said  that 
Uncas  "was  even  worse  than  before  the  war."1 

This  war  with  Philip  was  the  ending  of  warfare 
upon  the  part  of  the  Indians  of  Connecticut,  espe 
cially  among  their  own  race.  There  may  have 
been,  here  and  there,  some  unimportant  hostile 
actions,  the  last  of  which  was  in  1678,  when  the 
Mohawks  made  a  raid  upon  the  Mohegans.  Sev 
eral  of  Uncas's  people  were  carried  away  captive, 
including  one  of  his  sons.2  Mason  died  in  1672, 
and  with  his  death  seemingly  passed  away  the 
necessity  for  further  resort  to  force  upon  the  part 
of  the  white  people  to  keep  the  Indians  within  their 
proper  bounds. 

Uncas  died  in  1682  or  1683.  Regarding  this 
event  very  little  is  known.  He  was  a  man  of 

^Indian  Papers,  vol.  i.,  docs.  32,  33. 

2Ibid,  doc.  37. 

Uncas,  one  day  conversing  with  Thomas  Stanton  of  his 
own  children,  remarked  that  the  three  eldest  were  legitimate. 
"As  for  Ben  Uncas,  he  poquiom," — is  half -dog,  his  mother 
being  a  poor,  beggarly  squaw,  not  his  wife.  By  common 
report,  Ben's  mother  was  the  daughter  of  Foxon,  his  chief 
councillor. 

Ibid,  doc.  173,  p.  57. 

[478] 


WARS  OF  THE  MOHEGANS 

marked  and  disagreeable  characteristics,  whose 
memory  went  back  beyond  the  time  when  Adrian 
Block  made  his  discovery  of  Rhode  Island  and 
Connecticut,  and  he  died,  doubtless,  cherishing  the 
traditions  of  his  race.1 

The  Indian  warriors  in  Connecticut  in  1680  were 
estimated  at  five  hundred,  by  which  one  infers  that 
the  total  Indian  population  of  Connecticut  did  not 
exceed,  at  that  time,  four  to  five  times  that  number. 

1"Mr.  Washington  Irving  says,  'The  Indian  obeys  the  im 
pulses  of  his  inclination  and  the  dictates  of  his  judgment. 
The  early  records  mention  with  great  bitterness  the  doings 
of  the  Indians,  and  with  strong  approval  the  strides  of  civil 
ization  in  the  blood  of  the  red  man.  They  show  us  but  too 
clearly  how  the  white  man  was  moved  to  hostility  by  the  lust 
of  conquest,  and  how  merciless  and  exterminating  was  the 
warfare.  Imagination  shrinks  at  the  idea  how  many  intellec 
tual  beings  were  hunted  from  earth;  how  many  brave  and 
noble  hearts  of  nature's  sternest  coinage  were  broken  down 
and  trampled  in  the  dust.  Treated  by  the  colonists  as  if  wild 
beasts  of  the  forest,  writers  have  endeavored  to  justify  the 
outrage.  The  colonist  found  it  easier  to  exterminate  than  to 
civilize;  his  apologists  have  found  it  easier  to  vilify  the  Indians 
than  to  discriminate.  The  appellations  savage  and  pagan  have 
been  deemed  sufficient  to  sanction  hostilities;  and  thus  the 
wanderers  of  the  forest  were  persecuted  and  defamed,  not 
because  they  were  guilty,  but  because  they  were  ignorant.  .  .  . 
The  rights  of  the  savage  have  seldom  been  properly  appre 
ciated  or  respected  by  the  white  man.  ...  A  proud  inde 
pendence  formed  the  main  pillar  of  savage  virtue;  it  has  been 
shaken  down,  and  the  whole  fabric  lies  in  ruins."3 

[479] 


INDIAN  WARS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

It  will  be  recalled  that  Trumbull,  upon  the  coming 
of  the  English,  estimates  the  Indian  population  of 
this  section  of  the  country  from  twelve  to  twenty 
thousand.  This  estimate,  however,  is  not  accepted 
by  the  conservative  historian;  and,  as  one  writer  has 
said,  "It  was  founded  in  a  large  part  upon  tradi 
tion."  DeForest  notes  that  "on  the  death  of  Uncas 
all  unity  which  our  subject  possessed,  entirely  dis 
appears."  Between  the  different  tribes  conflicts 
had  ceased,  and  animosities  were  apparently  buried; 
but  the  destruction  of  the  Indians  and  the  disinte 
gration  of  the  forces  which  combined  to  make  these 
people  a  formidable  obstacle  to  the  settlement  of 
the  country  were  still  perpetuated  by  the  pander 
ing  of  the  English  to  their  depraved  appetites 
through  the  inordinate  use  of  intoxicating  liquors, 
despite  all  laws  to  the  contrary;  for  the  traders  had 
the  same  liking  for  money  that  the  savage  had  for 
rum.  What  the  bullets  of  the  English  did  not  ac 
complish  was  ultimately  arrived  at  in  another  and 
more  reprehensible  way. 

How  far  the  English  race  is  responsible  for  the 
obliteration  of  the  aborigine  is  not  in  question.  It 
is  more  than  probable  that  he  would  have  fallen 
by  reason  of  his  own  barbarism;  and  while  the 
Indian  never  forgot  a  kindness  or  forgave  an  in 
jury,  his  treachery  and  his  cruelty  to  a  conceived 
enemy  were  entirely  consistent  with  his  mode  of 
living  and  his  environment. 

[480] 


INDEX 


INDEX 

Abenake,  25,  31,  42,  45 
Aborigine,  estimation  of,  176 
Accomack,  111,  note 
Accomintas,  51,  174 
Acquidneck  (Rhode  Island),  185,  note 
Acquidy,  origin  of  name  uncertain,  185,  note 
Adams  on  Indian  titles,  63,  note 
Agamenticus,  General  Court  of,  259,  note 

Agawams,  attacked  by  the  Tarratines,  170,  note,  172,  note,  348, 
note 

mentioned,  452,  note 
Agowaywam,  84,  note 

Agreement,  tripartite,  between  Connecticut,  the  Mohegans,  and  the 
Narragansetts,  335 

with  proviso,  337,  352 
Ahab,  mentioned,  287 
"Akornes,"  dried  for  food,  104,  note 
Alden,  John,  78,  note 
Alexander,  50;  also  81,  121 
Algonquin,  46,  note 
Algonquin  trails,  264,  note 
Allerton,  Isaac,  65,  note 

at  Pentagoet,  175 
Alligwe,  26,  note 
Ameda,  32,  note 
Ammacongins,  42 

Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  Company,  257,  note 
Androscoggin,  42 
Anglo-Saxon,  traditions  of,  80 

folk-mote,  82,  note 
Annapecom,  fined  for  raid  on  Brewster  and  Thompson,  469 

his  reply  to  the  court,  469 
Ansantawae,  357 

Antinomianism,  250,  note,  424,  note 
Appanow  (Epenow),  see  129,  note 
Aramouchiquois,  42 
Archipelagoes  (Norwalk  River),  184 

[483] 


INDEX 

"Armour,"  95,  note 

Arnold,  Benedict,  434 

Arrow-heads,  29,  106,  note,  108,  note 

Ashquash,  murders  a  woman  at  Fairfield,  427 

Aspinet,  80,  125 

Assacumet,  70,  73 

Asson-neck,  30,  note 

Atherton,  Lieutenant,  438,  note 

Attitude  of  English  toward  Indians  that  of  spoilers,  175 

Authorship  of  Mourt's  Relation,  85,  note 

Awashonks,  50 

Bagnall,  Walter,  76;  also  note 

"Barnes"  of  the  Indians,  95 

Barnstable,  51 

Barricade,  first  built  by  Standish  and  his  men,  95, 102, 103, 104,  105 

Bashaba,  The,  73,  264,  note 

Bay  Colony,  indifference  of,  to  engaging  in  Pequod  War,  245 ;  also 

227,  249,  290,  297 
Bay-men,  239,  note 
Beacon  Hill,  22,  note 
Beads,  98,  101 
Beans,  41 

Billington,  John,  38,  note,  124,  125 
Bjarne,  29,  note 

Blackstone,  William,  22,  note,  102,  note 
Block,  Adrian,  Dutch  explorer 

his  vessel  burned,  183 

builds  another,  183 

names  it  the  Restless,  183,  note 

discovers  Connecticut,  184 
Block  Island,  199,  208,  212,  216,  227,  228,  234,  249,  311,  note 

expedition  planned  against,  227,  228 

Underbill's  fight  at,  228,  note,  229,  note 

could  have  but  one  result,  234 
Blue  Hills,  51,  note 
Bonighton  at  Saco,  174 
Boston  alarmed,  203,  note,  410 

citizens   of,    armed    and    marched    to    Neponset,    203,    note 

mentioned,  231,  232,  233 
Boston  Colony,  as  peace-makers,  203,  note 
Boston  Harbor,  Weston's  party  at,  134,  137,  143 

[484] 


INDEX 

Boules,  98 

Bound  Brooke,  78,  note 
Bounty  for  Indian  scalps,  170 
Bow-strings,  32 
Boyle,  Robert,  371 

Bradford,  William,  62,  78,  89,  95,  102,  106,  note,  193,   194,  note, 
210 

account  of  Hudleston's  Letter,  139,  note 

notes  distress  of  Pilgrims  in  his  Journal,  139,  140 

goes  to  Pemaquid  for  provisions,  140,  note 

returns  answer  to  hostile  message  of  Canonicus,  142 

his  and  Winthrop's  Letters  on  the  Pequod  War,  210-227 
Branch,  Arthur,  237,  note 
Brewster,  Elder  William,  died,  65,  note 
Brewster,  Fear,  65,  note 

Brewster  and  Thompson,  settlers,  attacked  by  Pocumtucks,  468 
Bristol,  Me.,  77,  note 
Broches,  97 

Brook,  Lord,  205,  note,  206,  note,  251 
Brown,  John,  77,  note,  110,  note 

at  Pemaquid,  174 
Browne,  James,  78,  note 
Bull,  Lieutenant,  at  Fort  Mystic,  275,  note 
Burdett,  George,  259 
Burial-places,  167 

Indian  veneration  for,  99,  note 

mode  of  burial,  107,  note 
Burning  at  stake,  44,  45 
Busheag,  attacks  a  woman  at  Stamford,  427 

is  surrendered  to  the  English,  427 

executed,  428,  note 
Butterfield,  Samuel,  capture  and  torture  of,  236,  237,  283,  295 

Calendar,  correction  of,  by  Pope  Gregory,  90,  note 

Indian's,  31 

Calumet,  origin  of,  158,  note 

Cambridge,  Vane  defeated  for  governor  at,  250,  note 
Cammock,  Thomas,  at  Black  Point,  174 
Cannibalism,  44,  45,  note 
Canonchet,  475 

Canonicus,  21,  47,  48,  120,  note,  129,  142,  note,  192,  note,  196,  note, 
208,  209,  231,  232,  233,  260,  416,  417 

[485] 


INDEX 

Canonicus,  sends  message  to  Plymouth,  129 

declares  war  with  English,  142 

afraid  of  English;  accords  them  occult  powers,  143 

breaks  the  sticks  before  Williams,  143,  note 

goes  to  Boston,  233 

calls  council  of  Narragansetts   for  extermination  of  English, 
235,  note 

reply  to  Roger  Williams  as  to  harboring  Pequods,  320,  note 

his  entertainment  of  Williams,  321,  note 

charges  Uncas  with  duplicity,  321,  note 

conference  with  Williams,  Miantunnumoh,  and  Cassasinamon, 
322,  note 

disposition  toward  English,  347 

with   Miantunnumoh,    exonerated   of   Oldham    murder,    347, 
note 

his  warlike  message  to  Bradford  mentioned,  347,  note,  416,  417 
Capawack,  island  of,  84,  note 
Capawick,  71,  72 

Cape  Ann,  Conant  goes  to,  192,  note 
Capemanwagen,  77,  note 
Capoge,  73 
Carolinas,  318 

Cartier,  Jacques,  31,  32,  note,  46,  note,  69 
Carver,  John,  102 
Casacke  (blouse),  99 
Casco  Bay,  77,  note 
Cassasinamon,  447,  449 

with  Obechiquod  complains  of  Uncas,  449 
Catapazet,  475 
Caunacone,  129,  note 
Cellars,  aboriginal,  94,  note 
Chabatewece,  326,  note 
Chalons,  Henry,  70 

Champlain,  Samuel  de,  38,  note,  46,  note,  124 
Chapman,  Robert,  237,  note 
Charity,  The,  and  The  Swan,  in  Plymouth  Harbor,  143 

in  interest  of  Weston,  143 
Charles  n.,  250,  note 
Charlestown,  348 
Charon's  Ferry-boat,  292,  note 
Charter  of  Runnymead,  83,  note 
Chatham,  51 

[486] 


INDEX 

Checatawbeck,  151 
Chikatawbut,  106,  note,  129,  note 

his  mother's  grave,  description  of,  97 

his  harangue  to  his  people  after  the  desecration  of  his  mother's 
grave,  107,  note 

instigates  butchery  of  English,  155 
Chimough,  431 

Christian  faith  among  Indians,  meager  influence,  369 
Church  commission,  232,  note 
Citackamuckqut,  326,  note 
Cleve,  George,  ejected  from  Spur  wink,  174 
Coddington,  William,  325,  note 
Coins,  ancient,  found  in  Dorchester,  136 
Coke,  Sir  Edward,  261,  note 
Collier,  William,  403 
Colonies,  action  of,  in  Pequod  War,  248 
Colonists,  rejoice  at  destruction  of  Fort  Mystic,  291 

frequently  alarmed  by  rumors  of  savage  raids,  348,  note 
Common  House  at  Plymouth  takes  fire,  108 
Conant,  Roger,  goes  to  Cape  Ann,  192,  note 
Conbatant,  149 
Coneconum,  72 

Conectecott,  240,  note,  241,  note 
Conightecute,  211,  213 
Conightecutte,  220 
Conighticutt,  226 
Conjurors,  129,  note 

Connecticut,  mentioned,  184,  186,  189,  193,  198,  note,  204,  205, 
206,  207,  227,  229,  244,  246,  note,  290,  420,  467,  472 

estimated  number  of  aborigines,  52 

settlers  suspicious  of  Miantunnumoh,  381,  note 

inclined  to  war  with  Narragansetts,  383,  note 

advice  of  Massachusetts  regarding,  383,  note 

alarmed  by  the  Narragansetts  conspiracy,  454 

restricts  intercourse  with  the  Indians  by  legal  enactment,  472 

Indian  census  of  1680,  479 
Connecticut  coast,  184,  197 
Connecticut  Colony 

comprised  of  Windsor,  Hartford,  and  Wethersfield,  244 

settlers  afflicted  with  poverty,  245,  246,  247 

decides  war  against  Pequods,  246 
Connecticut  Court,  244 

[487] 


INDEX 

Connecticut  River,  186,  188,  note,  190,  note,   191,  192,   193,   194, 
198,  199,  207,  228,  241,  note,  248,  251,  281,  288,  311,  313, 
343,  353,  364,  388 
Connecticut  River  Indians,  343 
Connecticut  settlers,  282 
Connecticut  Valley,  186,  191,  196 
Cook,  Wequash.      Vide  Wequash 

betrayed  Fort  Mystic,  328 

described  by  Mather,  328,  note 

supposed  to  have  died  of  poison,  329,  note 

captain   under  Miantunnumoh,  329,  note 

a  Pequod  spy,  351 

his  band  broken  up,  363 
Copper  knives,  41 
Corbitant,  49,  126,  127,  129,  note 

eludes  Standish,  128 
Corn  of  Indians,  taken  by  Bradford  and  Standish,  94,  95,  102,  note 

seed- ears,  94,  note 
Corstiaensen,  Dutch  explorer,  183 
Cotton,  Rev.  John,  51,  note 

his  estimate  of  Roger  Williams,  232,  note 
Court  of  Commissioners  for  United  Colonies 

its  personnel,  403 

aroused  by  a  letter  from  Roger  Williams,  437 

to  despatch  a  company  to  Mohegan  Garrison,  under  Mason, 
438 

Drake's  account  of  this  expedition,  438,  note 

sends  two  messengers  to  Pessicus,  438 
Covenant  of  Works,  325,  note 
Cowate,  375,  note 

Cradock,  Governor,  message  to  Endicott,  165 
Cromwell,  Israel  Stoughton  commander  under,  293,  note 
Cudworth,  James,  78,  note 
Cullicutt,  Serjeant,  441,  note 
Cummaquid,  38,  note,  124,  125 

Cushammakin,  Cutshamequin,  Cutshamoquen,  322,  note,  347,  note 
Cutchamekin,  438,  note 
Cutshamekin,  173,  note 
Cutshamoquene,  322,  note 
Cuttaquin,  attempts  to  kill  Uncas,  456,  note 

captured  by  John  Mason,  456 

delivered  to  the  Mohegans,  457 


[488] 


INDEX 

Damariscotta,  shell-heaps  of,  27,  29 

Dames,  John,  434 

Davenport,  Lieut.  Richard,  293,  note 

on  the  march  to  Fairfield  Swamp,  305 

engages  the  Pequods  and  is  repulsed,  306,  307 
Davenport,  Nathaniel,  307,  note 
Davis,  Sergeant  John,  438,  note 
Death-song,  45 
Deerfield,  270 
Dehamda,  70 
Delaware  Bay,  183 
Delawares,  26,  note,  35 
Denonville,  49 
De  Razier,  the  Dutch  factor,  204,  note 

visits  Plymouth;  opens  a  trade  in  wampum  with  Pilgrims,  204, 

note 
Dermer,  Capt.  Thomas,  74,  93,  note 

account  of  coming  to  Cape  Cod,  74 

redeems  Frenchman  at  Masstachusit,  122,  note 
Dighton  Rock,  28,  note,  29,  note 
Dike,  Anthony,  238,  note 
Discovery,  The,  arrives  at  Plymouth,  144 
Distance  from  Plymouth  Harbor  to  Boston  by  water,  131,  note 
"Dogge,"  Indian,  90 
Dogs,  suggested  for  hunting  Indians,  170 
Donnacona,  69 
Dorchester,  206,  208,  note 
Dorchester  church  removed  to  Windsor,  207 
Dudley,  Gov.  Thomas,  380,  note,  403 
Dutch,  The, 

navigators,  183 

fort  at  Hartford,  194,  195 

courage,  195,  note 

oppose  Holmes  on  the  Connecticut,  198,  note 

lose  their  trade  on  the  Connecticut,  200,  note 

mentioned,  200,  210,  242,  253,  254 

use  stratagem  to  obtain  two  English  girl  captives,  261,    note 

their  traders  cheat  the  Indians,  422 

savages  retaliate;  two  Dutchmen  killed,  422 

tiie  Indians  punished  in  turn;  Dutch  settlements  attacked  by  In 
dians  in  force,  423 

expedition  from  New  Amsterdam  against  Indians,  423 

[489] 


INDEX 

Dutch,  soldier  kills  Captain  Patrick,  425,  note 
war  between,  and  Indians  closed,  426 

Eastham,  39,  note 

East  River,  Guilford,  377 

Eaton,  Governor,  friendly  to  Indians,  359 

Eaton,  Theophilus,  403 

Eencluys,  Hans,  of  Manhattan,  185 

Egyptians,  mentioned,  97 

Eliot,  John,  124,  note,  166 

his  Bible,  271,  note 

and  Mayhew's  efforts  to  Christianize  the  Indians,  370 

completes  second  edition  of  English  Bible,  371 

writes  Robert  Boyle,  371 

his  first  attempt  to  Christianize  the  Indian,  372,  note 

first  meeting  in  Waban's  wigwam,  373,  note 

described  by  Drake,  373,  note 

first  mission  at  Natick,  373,  note 

his  work  designated  by  Ellis,  376 

vide  473,  note 
Eltow,  Jack,  316,  note 
Ely,  Rev.  William,  469,  note 
Embaulment,  red  Powder,  99 

Endicott,  John,  22,  63,  note,  227,  note,  228,  note,  282,  note 
England,  William,  77,  note 
English,  begin  career  at  Plymouth  by  robbing  the  natives,  93,  note 

supposed  by  Indians  to  be  in  collusion  with  evil  spirits,  129 

vindictiveness  of  the,  293 

their  advantage  over  the  savage,  295 

their  incentives  to  retaliation,  295 

their  characteristics,  296,  297 

determine  upon  the  annihilation  of  the  Pequods,  299 

prowess  boasted  of  by  Mather,  330,  note 

capacity  to  drive  a  stiff  bargain,  337 

sowing  to  the  winds,  338 

enslaving  the  Indian  a  mania  with  them,  339,  note 

Mather's  fervor  instanced,  339,  note 

attitude  of  the  Indians  toward  the,  343 

policy  of,  with  Narragansetts,  notes  on,  343,  344 

their  religious  belief  in  "Divine  Rights"  to  New  England,  344, 
note 

causes  of  savage  activities  against,  344 

[490] 


INDEX 

English,  their  alliances  with  the  Indians  of  an  entangling  character, 
344 

plot  with  Uncas  the  downfall  of  Miantunnumoh,  346,  note 

have  trouble  at  Sowams  with  the  Narragansetts,  348,  note 

timidity  of,  408 

greed  of,  411 

order  Narragansetts,  Mohegans,  and  Niantics  before  magis 
trates,  434 

plan  a  campaign  against  the  Narragansetts,  437 

expedition  against  Narragansetts  delayed  until  results  of  treaty 
are  known,  440,  note 

aroused  by  rumors  of  plotting  of  Narragansetts  and  Pequods, 
458 

declare  war  against  the  Nehantics,  462 

give  command  to  Major  Willard,  462 

intend  to  destroy  power  of  Ninigret,  463 
Enslaving  of  the  Pequods,  293 
Epanow,  Epenwe,  Epenow,  Gorges'  account  of,  72,  73,  74 

escape,  75 
Escholl,  95 
Etow,  Jack,  captures  two  Pequods,  303 

Fairfax,  Sir  Thomas,  245,  note 

Fairfield,  289,  357 

Fairfield  Swamp,  177 

Famine  pinches  Plymouth,  139 

Farmington  Stream,  194 

Fenwick,  John,  403 

Finch,  Abraham,  364,  note 

First  Encounter,  The,  105 

Fisher's  Island,  452 

Fish-hooks,  138 

Fitch,  James,  mentions  Uncas,  247,  note 

Fitch,  missionary,  473,  474 

efforts  of,  to  Christianize  Mohegans,  473 

writes  General  Court  of  Uncas,  478 
Five  Nations,  27,  note 
Florida,  264,  note 

Fort  Mystic,  attacked  and  destroyed  by  Mason,  177,  271 
Fortune,  The,  142 
Foxon,  a  deputy  of  Uncas,  446,  note,  450 

defends  Uncas,  452 

[491] 


INDEX 

Freeman,  John,  77,  note 

French  vessel  cast  away  at  Cape  Cod,  92,  note 

Fresh  River,  196,  note 

Frontenac,  15 

Fryeburg,  Me.,  85,  note 

Gallop,  John,  292,  note,  339,  note 

John,  the  son,  292,  note 
Gallup,  "Skipper,"  339,  note 
Gardener,  Lion,  229,  230,  251,  note,  252,  note 

relation  of  attack  on  party  at  Saybrook  Fort,  237,  note 

relation  of  Miantunnumoh's  plotting,   384,  note,    385,   note, 

386,  note 

Gardener's  Island,  252,  note 
Gardener's  Manor,  Lords  of,  252,  note 
Gardiner,  Richard,  87,  note 
Garret,  Hermon,  454,  475 
Gauntlet,  running  the,  47 

Gibbons,  girls  of  that  name  killed  by  savages,  242,  note 
Gibbons,  Major,  elected  commander-in-chief  of  forces  sent  against 
the  Narragansetts,  439 

his  instructions,  439,  note 
Godfrey,  at  York  River,  174 
Gookin,  Daniel,  473,  note 
Gorges,  Sir  Ferdinando,  70,  72 
Gorton,  Samuel,  350,  note,  400;  also  415 

driven  from  Plymouth,  400 

settled  at  Warwick,  400 

writes  Uncas,  400 

effect  of  his  letter,  401 

Winthrop's  comment  on  same,  402 

his  offence  outside  Massachusetts  jurisdiction,  401,  note 

entertained  by  Earl  of  Warwick,  401,  note 

demands  release  of  Miantunnumoh,  401 

vide,  402,  note 

Parliament  sustains  his  contention  against  the  Puritans,  416,  note 
Gouch,  John,  259,  note 
Gouch,  Ruth,  259,  note 
Grampus,  at  Wellfleet  Bay,  103 
Graves  of  Indians  desecrated  by  Standish,  97 
Great  Lakes,  tribes  about,  40 
Great  Patent  of  New  England,  64 

[492] 


INDEX 

Great  Spirit,  445 
Greenwich,  423 
Gregson,  Thomas,  403 
Groton,  43,  246,  note 
Guilford  Harbor,  302 
Gulf  of  Maine,  34 

Hampden,  John,  205 

Hanging  of  the  weaver  at  Wessaguscus,  145 

Morton's  account  of  same,  146-148 
Harford  (Hartford),  243,  note 
Harley,  Henry,  72 
Harlow,  Captain  Edward,  71 

kidnapped  three  Indians,  71 
Hartford,  179,  186,  242,  244,  246,  249,  note 

Indian  fort  at,  184 

General  Court  at,  243 

establishes  quota  for  Pequod  War,  245 
Hartford  Commission,  331 

Uncas  and  Miantunnumoh  attend  upon,  331 

its  attempt  to  reconcile  Uncas  and  Miantunnumoh,  334 
Hawkins,  the  buccaneer,  99,  note 

at  Pamlico,  264,  note 
Haynes,  John,  335 
Head  of  the  Mystic,  268 

Heathen,  savages  so  regarded  by  Puritans,  300,  note 
Heckwelder,  25,  note 
Hellegat  (Hell-gate),  184,  note 
Hell-gate,  184,  note 
Heydon,  William,  271 
Hieroglyphic  writings,  23,  29,  note,  31 
Higginson,  Rev.  Francis,  66,  67,  note 

his  book,  67,  note 
Hilton,  at  Piscataqua,  174 
Hinckley,  Thomas,  78,  note 
Hine,  Thomas,  445 
Hobbamocco,  58 
Hobbomock's  feat  at  Wessaguscus,  158 

vide  125,  126,  note,  150,  note 
Hobbomok,  125,  126,  127,  128,   153,   155,  157 

warns  the  English,  84,  note 
Hobbomoko,  116,  note 

[493] 


INDEX 

Hobson,  Captain,  73 
Hockanum  River,  186,  465 
Holmes,  William,  186 

goes  to  the  Connecticut  River,  193 

opposed  by  the  Dutch  at  Hartford,  194 

erects  a  trading-house,  194,  note 

his  return  to  Plymouth,  196,  note 

Pequods  affronted  by  his  purchase  of  land  from  their  enemies, 

197,  338 

Hood,  Robin,  64,  note 
Hopkins,  Edward,  335,  403 
Hopkins,  Stephen,  36,  note,  37,  note,  89 

Samoset  lodged  with  when  at  Plymouth,  112 
House  of  The  Good  Hope,  187 
Hubbard's  account  of  the  capture  of  a  small  body  of  Pequods  by 

Stoughton,  292 
"Hudibras,"  Butler's,  145 

Hudleston's  letter  to  the  Plymouth  Colony,  139,  note 
Hudson,  Hendrick,  184,  note 
Hudson  River,  183,  188,  note,  318 
Hunt,  Captain,  39,  note,  68,  114,  note 

his  kidnapping  raid,  114,  note,  116,  note 
Hurlburt,  Thomas,  238,  note,  316,  note 
Hutchinson,  Ann.  murdered  by  the  Indians,  423 

her  Boston  house  located,  423 

her  banishment,  424,  note 

lived  at  Acquidneck,  424,  note 

removed  into  the  Dutch  country,  424,  note 

her  zeal,  her  friends,  425,  note 
Hutchinson  set,  48 

Hutchinson's  account  of  the  enslaving  of  the  Pequods,  339,  note 
Huttamoida,  129,  note 

Hyde's  account  of  the  battle  of  Sachem's  Plain  and  the  capture  of 
Miantunnumoh,  394,  note 

Increase  of  English  population  after  1626,  171 
Indian,  The,  22 

language,  22 

music,  22 

picture-painting,  23,  31 

his  traditions,  24 

picture-writing,  24,  note,  25,  note 

[494] 


INDEX 

Indian,  The,  arts,  26 
superstitions,  28 
literature,  30,  31 
letter-paper,  31 

character  and  attainments,  32,  176 
spun  his  thread  from  the  spruce,  33 
mint-masters,  35 
habits,  36,  37,  40,  57 
physique,  38 
mood,  39 
implements,  40 
agriculture,  41 
laws,  42 
cannibalism,  44 
mode  of  torture,  45,  47 
scalping,  46,  note 
government,  54 

Thomas  Lechford's  description  of,  54 
weapons,  57 
religion,  58 

treatment  of,  by  English,  63,  note,  79,  82,  95,  note 
land-titles  from,  63,  note,  64,  note,  166-168 
absorption  of  lands  of,  by  English,  67 
Indian  "corne,"  92,  93 
seed  corn,  94,  note 
burial-places,  99 
veneration  of  same,  100 
habitations,  103 
sold  as  slaves,  114,  note 
garb,  121,  note 
doomed  race,  165 
their  right  to  the  soil,  166 
as  to  the  rights  of  others,  196,  note 
their  highways,  264,  note 
manner  of  fighting,  278 
attitude  of  the  Church  toward,  299,  note 
a  superstitious  race,  369,  note 
Christian  faith  among,  369,  note 
traditions,  transmission  of,  369,  note 
comity  as  to  disposition  of  lands,  405 
habits  were  changing,  419 
laws  for  the  restraint  of;  fines  established,  420,  421,  472 

[495] 


INDEX 

Indian,  The,  settlers  forbidden  to  entertain,  420,  472 

inordinate  appetite  for  liquors,  421 

penalty  for  selling  liquor  to,  422 

attack  of,  on  Dutch  settlers  in  1642,  422 

curious  instance  of  torture  by,  445 

addicted  to  gambling,  448 

efforts  to  Christianize  the,  472 
Indian  Bible,  371,  note 
Ingram,  marooned  at  Pamlico,  264,  note 
Initial  labors  of  New  England  colonists,  175 

their  distribution,  174 
Iroquois,  35,  44 

Irving,  Washington,  description  of  the  Indian,  479 
lyanough,  84,  note,  125 

James,  the  King,  118,  120 
James- the-Printer,  371,  note 

his  descendants  known  in  Graf  ton,  372 
Janemoh,  Janemo  (Ninigret),  265,  note,  323,  note 

is  entertained  by  Winthrop  at  Boston,  323,  note 
Jaques,  Lieutenant,  24,  note 
Jeffery  (and  "Sargante  Rigges"),  223 
Johnson,  Edward,  146 

mentioned,  229 
Jones,  Captain,  88,  note,  144 

Kennebec  (River),  216 

Kennebequi,  42 

"Ketle,"  great,  Standish  takes  it,  after  filling  with  corn,  94 

Kichomiquim  (Cutshamequin),  230,  note,  312 

Kie vet's  Hook,  185 

origin  of  name,  185,  note 
King  Philip,  343 

his  war,  476 

remarkable  fortunes  of  English  in  Narragansett  expedition,476 

his  downfall  ended  Indian  troubles,  478 
Kings,  58 
Kiswas,  captured  by  Uncas,  251 

who  he  was,  252,  note 

tortured  by  the  Mohegans,  253,  note 
Kitan,  58 
Kithansh,  334 

[496] 


INDEX 

Lalemant,  46,  note 

Laudonniere,  46,  note 

Laws  enacted  affecting  Indian,  420 

fines  established,  420,  472 

settlers  forbidden  to  entertain  Indians,  420,  472 

Uncas  and  Wawequa  excepted,  421 

forbid  Indians  to  trade  with  French  or  Dutch,  421 
Lee,  Lord,  226 

Leffingwell,  Thomas,  432,  note,  468,  note 
Leif,  29,  note 
Leni-Lenape,  25,  note 
Lescarbot,  46,  note 
"Lether,"  Indian,  104,  note 
Levett,  Christopher,  77,  note 
Little  Compton,  50 
Lobsters,  131 

Lockett,  Moll,  84,  note,  85,  note 
Long  Island  Sound,  184,  188,  note,  311,  318 
Louis  xiv.,  ambitious  schemes  of,  49,  75 
Lovewell's  Pond,  battle  of,  85,  note 
Ludlow,  Deputy-Governor,  receives  Pequod  messenger,  201 

demands  the  murderer  of  Stone,  202 

enters  into  a  treaty  with  the  Pequods,  202 

mentioned,  223 
Ludlow,  Roger,  64,  note,  335 

Maize,  41 

Manana,  29 

Manasconomo,  his  submission,  170,  note,  175,  note 

Manhattan,  183,  204,  259,  note 

Manisees,  208,  292,  note,  318 

Manitou,  28 

Manittos,  362 

Manomet,  84,  note,  159 

Mascus,  350,  note 

Mashpee,  51 

Mason,  John,  164,  239,  241,  note,  245,  note,  312 

advances  into  Pequod  country,  250 

commander-in-chief,  251,  255 

holds  conference  with  his  men,  257 

leaves  decision  to  chaplain  as  to  immediate  advance,  257 

decides  to  march  against  Pequods,  257 

[497] 


INDEX 

Mason,  John,  joined  by  Underbill,  257 

leaves  Saybrook,  258 

interviews  Canonicus,  260 

attitude  of  Miantunnumoh,  260 

renews  march  into  Pequod  country,  263 

at  Nehantic  fort,  264 

joined  by  the  Narragansetts,  265 

discovers  signs  of  the  Pequods,  266 

fords  Paucatuck  River,  267 

camps  at  Porter's  Rocks,  268 

plans  advance,  270 

advance  on  Pequods  at  daylight,  269,  note,  271 

the  surprise  and  attack,  271 

Pequod  fort  given  to  the  torch,  272 

massacre  of  the  Pequods,  272;  also  note 

his  dangerous  position,  275 

saved  by  his  helmet,  275 

attacked  by  Sassacus,  276 

describes  manner  of  Indians  in  battle,  278 

joins  Stoughton  in  final  campaign  against  Pequods,  278 

retreat  from  Fort  Mystic,  280 

joins  Patrick  on  the  vessels,  280 

return  to  Connecticut,  287 

criticised  for  his  barbarous  treatment  of  Pequods,  282 

his  idea  of  punishment  of  the  Pequods,  282,  note 

his  action  justified,  284 

Johnson's  relation  of  march  to  Fairfield  Swamp,  304 

discovers  Sassacus's  hiding-place,  305 

fight  at  Fairfield  Swamp,  306-310 

goes  to  the  Nehantics,  323,  note,  351 

sent  to  the  Nehantics,  351,  note 

ordered  to  march  against  the  Nehantics,  438 

mentioned,  471 

died  in  1672,  478 
Massachusetts,  246,  249,  note 
Massachusetts,  The,  51 

origin  of  the  name,  51,  note 

alleged  plot  of,  against  Plymouth,  149 
Massachusetts  Bay,  189,  197,  231,  note,  290,  note 

not  averse  to  slave  traffic,  319,  note,  324,  note,  350,  note 
Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  83,  note,  204,  205,  214 

notified  of  conditions  in  Connecticut,  246 

[498] 


INDEX 

Massachusetts  Bay  Company,  175 

Massachusetts  Colony  sends  vessels  to  the  Connecticut  River,  191 

mentioned,  231,  248 
Massachusetts  Fields,  131 

Massacre  of  French  sailors  at  Peddock's  Island,  136 
Massasoit,  21,  36,  note,  37,  note,  47,  48,  51,  62,  66,  note,  77,  81,  84, 
note,  96,  note,  102,  116,  note,  120 

gives  land  to  English,  66 

gives  hostages,  118,  123 

is  entertained  by  the  Pilgrim  governor,  119 

described  by  Morton,  120 

his  decease,  121,  note 

leaves  Plymouth,  122 

mentions  no  English  as  coming  before  Pilgrims,  122,  note 

visited  by  English,  124 

mentioned,  125,  127,  128 

demands  surrender  of  Squanto,  137,  138,  note 

his  friendship  for  the  English  cools,  141 

healed  by  Winslow,  152 

generous  of  his  lands,  168 

vide  417 

Massasoits,  The,  112 
Masson,  Captaine  (John  Mason),  223 
Masstachusit,  122,  note 

"Matchit"  (evil),  English  manner  of  fighting,  279 
Mather,  Cotton,  39,  note 

mentions  fight  at  Fort  Mystic,  274,  note 

Mather,  Rev.  Increase,  50,  note,  81,  82,  84,  note,  292,  299,  note, 
300,  note 

his  perturbations  of  spirit,  299,  note 

his  comment  on  the  Fairfield  Swamp  fight,  313,  note 
"Matt"  found  by  Standish,  97 
Mattabesett  (Middletown),  359 
Mattachees,  51 
Mattachiest,  84,  note 
Maunamoh,  322,  note 
Mausaumpous,  334 
Mavericke,  Samuel,  22,  note 
Mawhawkes  (Mohawks),  430,  note 

Mayflower,  The,  39,  note,  61,  64,  90,  93,  note,  95,  123,  144 
Mayflower  Compact,  64,  65 
May-pole  at  Merry-Mount,  172 

[499] 


INDEX 

May-pole,  revelries  at,  146 

Meanticut,  385,  note 

Mecumeh  (Miantunnumoh),  349,  note 

Medicine-man,  28,  129,  note 

Mengwe,  25,  note,  27 

Menunkatucks,  52 

Menunketuc,  301 

Merchants'  Adventurers'  Company,  63,  137 

Merrimacs,  382 

Merry-Mount,  22,  86 

Morton,  Thomas,  of,  145 
Metacomet,  48 
Mettapoisett,  128 
Mewhebato,  364,  note 
Mexam,  440 

Mey,  the  Dutch  explorer,  183 
Miamis,  44,  note 

Miantunnumoh,  48,  120,  note,  189,  note,  192,  note,  209,  233,  247, 
note,  248,  note,  249,  note,  260,  265,  note 

complains  to  the  Boston  government  of  the  Nehantics,  322,  note 

his  allotment  of  Pequods,  325,  note 

sells  land  to  Coddington,  325,  note 

attends  conference  at  Hartford,  331 

threatened  by  Mohegans,  332 

at  Hartford,  332 

controversy  with  Uncas,  333 

invites  Uncas  to  feast,  334 

described  by  Hubbard,  334,  note 

has  permission  from  Winthrop  to  right  his  own  wrongs  with 
Mohegans,  340 

and  Canonicus  exonerated  of  complicity   in   murder   of  Old- 
ham,  347,  note 

assumes  leadership  of  Narragansetts,  348 

known  as  Mecumeh,  348 

generous  with  his  lands,  349 

depredations  by  the  Narragansetts,  349 

his  errand  to  Boston,  350 

visits  Boston,  1640,  379,  380,  note 

summoned  to  Boston,  380 

his  behavior  and  success,  381 

demands  his  accusers,  381,  382,  note 

guest  of  Governor  Winthrop,  383,  note 

[500] 


INDEX 

Miantunnumoh,  takes  suspected  Pequod  to  Boston,  384,  note 

latter's  story  disbelieved,  385 

ordered  to  deliver  the  suspect  to  Uncas,    385 

kills  the  Pequod  on  his  way  homeward,  385 

complains  of  aggression  of  Uncas  to  Governor  Haynes;  also  to 
Governor  Winthrop,  390 

plans  to  punish  Uncas,  391 

attacks  the  Mohegans,  391 

number  of  his  fighting-men,  392 

compelled  to  retreat,  394 

betrayed  by  two  of  his  men,  395 

is  captured,  395 

is  silent  before  his  captor,  396 

his  attitude  toward  Uncas,  397 

taken  to  Hartford,  397 

to  be  disposed  of  as  the  Boston  magistrates  order,  397 

Drake's  relation  of  his  capture,  397,  note 

has  the  sympathy  of  Connecticut  settlers,  399 

appeals  to  Hartford  authorities,  402 

his  trial  at  Boston,  403 

court  is  inclined  to  shift  responsibility,  403 

and  leave  question  of  guilt  to  clergy,  404 

final  sentence  characterized,  404,  note 

its  farcical  character,  404-406,  407,  note 

convicted  under  false  pretenses,  406 

clergy  declare  his  death  necessary,  406 

decision  of  commissioners,  408 

Drake's  review  of  the  case,  409,  note 

provision  for  safety  of  New  Haven  commissioners,  411 

delivered  to  Uncas,  412 

murdered  by  Wawequa,  413 

place  of  his  murder  and  burial,  413 
Michell,  Mr.,  243 

Michell,  old  Mr.,  237,  note,  238,  note 
Micmacs,  31,  42 
Middleborough,  50 
Middletown,  359 

Midnight  alarm  at  Wellfleet  Bay,  104 
Minci  (Monseys)  The,  26,  note 
Minisink,  26,  note 
Mint-masters,  35 
Mishawam,  22,  note 

[501] 


INDEX 

Mitteneague  (Windsor),  206 

Mohawks,  44,  52,  53,  311,  312,  note,  318 

surprise  and  kill  Sassacus  and  his  party,  316 

send  his  scalp  to  the  Massachusetts  governor  and  council,  316; 

also  note 
Mohegans,  43,  169,  246,  note,  247,  note,  248,  note,  318,  322 

acts  of  cannibalism  doubted  by  Drake,  253,  note 

at  Fort  Mystic,  273,  277 

release  rights  to  Pequod  lands,  337 

their  wars,  343 

increased  by  Pequod  accessions,  376 

their  title  to  Pequod  lands  questioned,  378 

controversy  over  former  conveyance  by  Uncas,  378 

maintain  a  guerilla  warfare  with  the  Narragansetts,  428 

the  tribe  weakened,  458 

have  little  knowledge  of  Christianity,  473 

mission  work  by  Fitch  among,  473 
Mohicans  (Hudsons),  The,  26,  note 
Monchiggon    (Morathiggon,    Monhegan),  sagamores,   or  lords  of, 

110,  138,  139 
Monhansick,  439 
Monheag,  461 
Monhegan,  29,  68,  72 
Monhiggs  (Mohegans),  226 
Monomoys,  51 
Mononotto,  255,  288 

his  wife  and  daughters,  225,  316 

escapes  with  Sassacus,  310 

Drake's  account  of  this  sachem,  310,  note 

children  of,  311 

known  as  Monowattuck,  313,  note 

escapes  from  the  Mohawks,  315 
Monowattuck,  same  as  Mononotto 
Mon-taup,  14,  note,  48,  note,  84 
Montowese,  357,  note 
Montville,  246,  note 
Monuments,  28 

Morathiggon,  a  Mohegan  sachem,  394 
Morton,  Thomas,  22,  note,  76,  145,  note;  also  86,  98,  note,  145 

his  New  English  Canaan,  145 

account  of  Wessaguscus,  146 

its  famous  trial,  146 

[502] 


INDEX 

Morton,  Thomas,  relates  hanging  of  the  weaver,  146-148 

mentioned,  172 

Morton,  William,  complains  of  Uncas,  446 
Morton's  Relation,  quoted,  87,  102,  note 

Mount  Hope,  same  as  Mon-taup,  14,  note,  48,  84,  345,  372,  note 
Mourning,  manner  of,  55 

Mourt's  Relation,  authorship  of,  85,  note,  et  seq. 
Mowhakes  (Mohawks),  226 
Mugg,  76,  note 
Munisses  (Manisees),  212 
Mystic,  the  Indian  a,  33 
Mystic  Fort,  312,  321,  note 

site  of,  287,  note 
Mystic  River,  exploration  of,  by  Standish,  133 

Nacook  Brook,  159,  note 

Nahanada,  70,  74,  75 

Nahicans  (Nehantics),  184,  note 

Nahiggonticks  (Narragansetts),  188,  note 

Namaskeags,  452,  note 

Namasket,  126,  128 

Namaskets,  50 

Nanasquionwut,  334 

Nanepashemet,  132 

his  grave,  132 

widow  of,  132,  133 

power  of,  133,  note 

Standish  finds  his  village  deserted,  133,  note 

his  house  at  Rock  Hill,  133,  note 

killed  by  the  Tarratines;  house  described,  133,  note 
Nanepashemets,  The,  117,  note 
Nanohiggansets  (Narragansetts),  387,  390,  note 
Nantasket,  192,  note 
Napoitan,  78,  note 
Nariganset  Indians,  222 

Narigansets  (Narragansetts),  210,  211,  218,  219,  220,  226,  231 
Narragansett,  256,  258,  260,  262,  265 

Narragansetts,  34,  35,  43,  47,  48,  49,  129,  169,  187,  189,  note,  199, 
note,  209,  229,  note,  234,  note,  235,  note,  244,  248,  249, 
253,  note,  257,  261,  263,  267 

rumored  conspiracy  of,  against  Plymouth  Settlement,  127,  note 

appear  about  Neponset,  203,  note 

[503] 


INDEX 

Narragansetts,  afraid,  at  Fort  Mystic,  270 
join  in  massacre  of  the  Pequods,  274 
after  fight,  turn  homeward,  275 
reengage  the  Pequods,  277 
Mason  aids  them,  278 
Underbill,  also,  279 

object  to  being  left  in  the  Pequod  country,  281 
intentions  of  Pequods  against,  285 
errand  of  Roger  Williams  to,  320 
English  indifference  to,  apparent,  323 
radical  difference  between  them  and  Mohegans,  331 
accuse  Pequods  and  Mohegans  of  robbery,  332 
release  rights  of  conquest  to  Pequod  lands,  337 
jealousies  between  them  and  Mohegans,  344 
approval  of  Uncas  by  English  arouses  their  suspicions,  346 
at  Neponset,  347 

their  disposition  toward  the  English,  350,  note 
natural  foes  of  Pequods,  376 

defeated  by  Mohegans  at  battle  of  the  Great  Plain,  394 
their  sachem  captured,  394 

unsuspicious  of  duplicity  of  commissioners,  399,  note 
.    trial  and  murder  of  Miantunnumoh,  403-413 

made  annual  pilgrimage  to  the  scene  of  Miantunnumoh's  death, 

413 

their  sorrow  at  the  death  of  Miantunnumoh,  414 
the  particeps  criminis,  415 
notified  not  to  molest  Uncas,  416 
offer  of  peace,  extended  to,  by  English,  416 
threaten  Uncas,  417 
hatred  for  Mohegans  grows,  417 
Pessicus  becomes  leading  sachem,  418 

their  reply  to  Winthrop's  answer  to  overtures  of  Pessicus,  418 
their  resentment  aroused,  418 
habits  of  Indians  undergoing  change,  419 
women  and  children  of  English  fear  the  savages,  419 
English  enact  stringent  laws  to  control  the  savages,  420 
at  war  with  Mohegans,  428 

Pessicus  summoned  to  Hartford  to  meet  Uncas,  428 
complain  to  commissioners  at  Hartford,  429 
compelled  to  sign  agreement  not  to  molest  Mohegans,  430,  note 
hostilities  again  renewed  against  Mohegans,  431 
attack  Mohegan  fort  on  the  Thames  River,  432 

[504] 


INDEX 

Narragansetts,  attack  abandoned,  432 

a  later  invasion  stopped  by  appearance  of  English,  433 

conspire  with  Mohawks  against  Mohegans,  454 

conspiracy  fails,  455 

friendly  to  King  Philip,  475 

appeal  to  the  Crown,  475,  note 

as  a  nation  practically  destroyed,  476 

torture  of  a  Narragansett  warrior,  476,  note 
Narragansett  Bay,  184,  188,  note,  192,  note,  196,  note,  343 
Nashacowam,  173 
Nashuas,  51,  451,  note,  452,  note 
Nassau  Bay,  184 
Natick,  first  mission  established  at,  373,  note 

rules  for  conduct  of  converted  Indians  at,  374,  note 
Nations,  The  Five,  27,  note 
Nattawahunt,  129,  note 
Naumkeags,  51 

Nauset,  locality,  79,  note,  84,  note,  107,  note,  129 
Nausets,  38,  note,  106,  note,  125,  129 
Nausibouck,  334 
Nawaas,  184,  note 

Nawwashawenck,  assaulted  Pumharn,  350,  note 
Nehantic,  264 

fort  at,  264 

visited  by  Mason,  323,  note 
Nehantics,  52;  also  184,  note,  119,  319 

to  avoid  Patrick  and  Mason,  abandon  their  village,  281 
Nepaupuck,  his  trial  and  execution,  364,  note 

accused  of  murdering  Finch,  364,  note 

jurisdiction  of  New  Haven  Colony  questioned,  365,  note 

convicted  and  beheaded,  365,  note 
Nepenett  sachems,  225 
Neponset,  203,  note 
Neponsets,  51 
Nesutan,  Job,  372,  note 
New  Amsterdam,  256 

Thanksgiving  at,  426 
New  Brunswick,  264,  note 
New  Canaan,  quoted,  146,  148,  161,  note 
New  England  Charter,  191 
New  England  Coast,  197 
New  England  Company,  Endicott's  Letter  to,  63,  note 

[505] 


INDEX 

New  Hampshire,  259,  note 
New  Harbor,  71,  77 

Pemaquid  Point,  70,  140,  note 
New  Haven,  302 

settlers  of,  356 
New  Haven  Bay,  settlement  of,  353 

consideration  for  land  about,  354 

settlers,  356 
Newichawannock,  174 
Newichawannocks,  51 

New  London,  188,  note,  246,  note,  287,  351,  352 
New  Netherlands,  Manhattan  to  be  capital  of,  184,  note 
New  Plymouth,  205 
Newtowne,  206 

colonists  go  to  Connecticut,  207 

Niantics  (Nehantics),  199,  note,  246,  note,  318,  319,  322,  note,  324 
Ninicraft,  457,  note 

visits  the  Mohicans,  461 

solicits  their  aid  against  Uncas,  461 

continues  his  quarrel  with  the  English,  who  declare  war  against 

him,  462 

Ninigratt,  435,  note 

Ninigret,  199,  note,  252,  note,  264,  265,  note,  319,  323,  note,  351, 
357,  note 

his  treatment  of  the  government  messengers,  436 

goes  to  Boston,  456 

denies  Cuttaquin's  charges,  456 

dismissed  by  magistrates  with  threats,  457 
Nipmucks,  51,  52,  451,  note 

located,  457 

raided  by  the  Mohegans,  470 
Nobsquassetts,  51 

No-ke-chick  ("parched-corn-meal"),  114 
Nonantum,  375,  note 
Nonantums,  51 
Norridgewock,  40 
Norse  Occupation,  29,  note 
North  Shore,  290 
North  Stonington,  246,  note 
Norton,  Captain,  killed,  198,  207 
Norwalk  Indians,  sell  land  to  Roger  Ludlow,  64,  note 
Norwalk  River,  184 

[506] 


INDEX 

Norwootucks,  466 
Nyantick  Peacots,  430,  note 

Obbatinewat,  132,  133,  note 

Obbatinua,  129,  note 

Obechiquod,  complains  that  Uncas  has  taken  his  wife  from  him, 

446,  note,  448,  449,  450 
Obtakiest,  149,  160 

the  fate  of  his  people,  161 

his  embassy  to  Plymouth,  162 
Ocquamehud,  129,  note 
Oldham,  John,  193,  209,  210,  212,  233,  235,  note,  283,  295 

butchery  of,  189,  192,  note,  208,  note 
Oldom  (Oldome,  Oldham),  John,  212 
Oliver,  Mrs.,  whipped,  425,  note 
Oneko,  cannibalism  of,  413,  note 
Onopequin,  471 
Oompaum,  111,  note 
Osemequon,  Oosamequin,  Massasoit  joins  in  conveyance  of  Rhode 

Island  lands,  326,  note 

"  Owanux!   Owanux!"  alarm-cry  of  Pequods  at  Fort  Mystic,  271 
Oweneco,  475 

Pakemit,  375,  note 

Pakonokick  (Pawkunnawkutt,  Pokonoket),  124,  note 

Pamlico,  99,  note 

Paniese,  125,  note 

Panises,  157 

description  of,  158,  note 
Pankapogs,  51 
Paomet,  84,  note 
Parnall,  William,  77,  note 
Passaconaway,  451,  note 

died,  452,  note 
Passamaquoddy,  41 
Passongesit,  100,  note 
Patackost  (Patackoset),  111,  note 
Patrick,  Captain  Daniel,  223,  249,  261,  262 

march  delayed  by  a  curious  incident,  249,  note 

reaches  Providence,  261 

joins  Mason  at  Narragansett,  281 

too  late  for  Fort  Mystic  fight,  281 

[507] 


INDEX 

Patrick,  Captain  Daniel,  goes  to  Saybrook  by  land,  281 

mentioned,  366 

killed  by  a  Dutch  soldier,  425,  note 
Patuxet,  111,  note,  115 
Paucasit,  326,  note 
Paucatuck  River,  196,  267 

English  at,  266 

Mason  fords  this  stream,  267 

location  of  their  forts,  267 

Narragansetts  and  Mohegans  withdraw  across,  268 
Paugessets,  52 

sell  land  to  the  English;  delivery  by  turf  and  twig,  357 
Paugus,  84,  85 
Paupasquat,  326,  note 
Pawkunnawkut,  48,  note 
Pawpiamet,  431,  435 

Pawtucket  (Petuhqui,  Puttukque),  111,  note 
Peacott  (Pequod),  247,  note 
Peas,  given  the  Indians  in  payment  for  corn  taken  by  Standish,  96, 

note 
Pecksuot,  84,  85,  note,  128,  note,  155,  156,  157,  171 

massacre  of,  148 

his  message  to  Standish,  155 
Peddock,  Leonard,  98,  note 
Peddock's  Island,  98,  note 

Frenchmen  wrecked  on,  98,  note 
Peeters,  Thomas,  433,  447 
Pekoath,  191 

Pell,  Mr.,  mentioned,  238,  note 
Pemaquid,  70,  343 

destroyed,  16 

settlement  at,  140,  note 

considered,  141,  note,  183,  note 
Pematesick,  328 

Pennacook  Confederacy,  451,  note 
Pennacooks,  51,  451,  note 
Penobscot  Bay,  138 
Pentagoet,  45,  175 
Pentuckets,  452,  note 
Pequakets,  85 

Pequents(Pequods),  210,  212,  213,  214,  215,  216,  219,  220,  221,  226 
Pequin,  Pequetan,  191,  note 

[  508  ] 


INDEX 

Pequit,  241,  note 

Pequits  (Pequods),  238,  note,  240,  note 

Pequods,  34,  35,  43,  81,  169,  189,  194,  note,  196,  197,  198,  200,  201, 
203,  note,  204,  207,  227,  228,  230,  232,  233,  234,  note,  236, 
237,  240,  242,  note,  250,  252,  253,  254,  255,  257,  260,  267 

claim  country  about  Connecticut  River,  186 

by  conquest,  186 

sell  to  the  Dutch,  186,  187 

their  treachery,  187 

at  climax  of  power,  197 

open  negotiations  with  English,  201 

number  of  warriors  estimated,  207 

plot  to  exterminate  the  English,  231,  234,  note 

frustrated  by  Roger  Williams,  231 

conference  with  Narragansetts,  235,  note 

extent  of  the  domain  of,  246,  note 

disposition  of  women  and  children,  249 

outwitted  by  the  Dutch,  254 

give  up  two  English  girls  taken  at  Wethersfield,  255 

protected  by  squaw  of  Mononotto,  225,  316 

regard  Uncas  as  a  renegade  Pequod,  267 

hold  a  feast  at  Fort  Mystic,  268 

their  fort  attacked  by  Mason,  271 

women  and  children  massacred,  273,  274,  note 

grief  at  destruction  of  Fort  Mystic,  276 

Mason  relieved  by  arrival  of  the  English  fleet,  276 

described  by  Mather,  277 

punishment  inevitable,  279 

method  of  fighting,  279 

punishment  of,  regarded  as  merited  by  Endicott,  282,  note 

their  destruction  as  a  people  considered,  284 

their  plans  anticipated  by  the  English,  285 

hold  council  after  destruction  of  Fort  Mystic,  285,  286 

determination  to  abandon  country  to  invaders,  286 

destroy  the  royal  village,  287 

its  location,  287,  note 

revenge  upon  Uncas,  287,  note 

location  of  fort  destroyed  by  Mason,  287,  note 

portion  of  nation  go  to  the  westward;  their  fate,  288 

capture  three  colonists;  the  torture,  288 

direction  of  their  flight,  289 

take  shelter  in  Fairfield  Swamp,  289 

[  509  ] 


INDEX 

Pequods,  racial  characteristics,  296 

an  object  of  slender  sympathy,  296 

a  race  of  wanderers,  298 

harassed  by  the  English,  301 

Sassacus's  hiding-place  betrayed  by  Pequod  spy,  303 

surrounded  at  Fairfield  Swamp,  307 

defy  Mason,  308 

attempt  an  escape  in  the  fog,  309 

make  a  night  sortie  against  Patrick,  309 

repelled  by  Patrick's  men,  309 

captured  by  Mason,  310 

power  broken,  314 

feared  by  adjacent  tribes,  314 

sold  into  slavery,  315 

end  of  the,  as  a  nation,  317 

number  taken  and  killed  at  Fairfield  Swamp,  317 

their  dispersion,  318,  319,  note 

efforts  of  a  portion  to  maintain  independence,  329 

conference  held  at  Hartford  for  their  final  disposition,  330 

their  troubles  exploited  by  Mather,  330,  note 

their  number  agreed  upon,  336 

their  final  disposition,  337 

their  lands  appropriated  by  the  English,  357 

break  treaty  with  English,  360 

attacked  by  Mason  and  Uncas  at  Paucatuck  River,  360 

for  locating  on  Paucatuck  River,  360 

Mason  plunders  their  village,  360 

attack  Mason,  361 

the  parley,  362 

their  village  at  Paucatuck  destroyed  by  Mason,  363 

last  foray  against,  363 

sequestration  of  Pequod  lands,  367 

allotment  of,  among  the  neighboring  nations,  376 

male  children,  how  disposed  of,  398,  note 

dispersed  by  Uncas,  452,  note 

refuse  to  return  to  the  Mohegans,  453 

desert  the  Nehantics  and  surrender  to  Willard,  462 
Pequod  Harbor,  Mason  orders  a  landing  at,  256 

mentioned,  257 

forts  on  the  Mystic  reenforced  by  Sassacus,  268 
Pequod  River  (The  Thames),  230,  263 

Mason  is  relieved  by  appearance  of  fleet,  274 

[510] 


INDEX 

Pequod  War,  164,  343 

English  at  Wethersfield  the  aggressors,  357,  359 
Pequots,  34,  43,  81 

described,  188,  note 
Perkins,  John,  173,  note 
Pessicus,  sends  gifts  to  Winthrop,  418,  466,  note,  467,  note 

warned  not  to  war  against  Uncas,  418 

summoned,  with  Uncas,  to  Hartford,  428 

inspires  fear  among  English,  430,  note 

invades  Mohegan  country,  431 

destroys  Mohegan  villages,  432 

driving  the  Mohegans  into  their  forts,  432 

messengers  sent  from  Boston  to,  434,  note 

his  reception  of  them,  and  his  reply,  435,  note 

explains  non-appearance  before  magistrates,  435 

Roger  Williams  warns  the  Boston  authorities  of  by  a  letter,  436 

commissioners  send  two  other  messengers,  439 

goes  to  Boston,  440 

English  impose  conditions,  441 

hostages  demanded  of;  poll-tax  levied  on  Narragansetts  and 
allied  tribes,  442 

enters  into  treaty  with  English,  443 

invades  Mohegan  country,  466,  note 

killed  across  the  Maine  border,  466,  note 
Pettuck's  Island,  136 
Pewee  (Kieveet),  185,  note 
Pharmacy,  Indian,  31 
Philip,  King,  49,  50,  62,  75,  81,  84,  162 
Phoenician  navigators,  30,  note 
Picture-painting,  24,  note,  31 

Pierce,  Mr.,  attends  Sir  Richard  Saltonstall,  206,  note 
Pierce  Patent,  65 

Pierce,  William,  takes  captured  Pequods  to  Bermuda,  225 
Pigwacket,  40,  42,  43 
Pilgrim  compared  with  Puritan,  82,  note 
Pilgrim  Fathers,  22 
Pilgrims,  how  they  wrought  with  Puritans,  79 

first  landing  of,  90 

their  perilous  condition  at  Plymouth,  138 

apprised  of  Virginia  massacre,  build  a  fort,  142 

description,  142,  note 

on  verge  of  starvation,  142 

[511] 


INDEX 

Pilgrims,  believed  Indian  supernaturally  endowed,  157,  note 

Pincheon,  M.,  mentioned,  240,  note 

Pinnace,  Oldham's,  292,  note 

Piscataquay  River,  172 

Piscataquis  River,  130,  343 

Piscataways,  51 

Plague,  The,  49,  66,  note,  112,  130 

Squanto  only  survivor  at  Pawtuxet   (Plymouth),   116,  note 
Plows  in  use  in  Connecticut,  1647,  368 
Plymouth,  population  of,  1630,  72 

distance  by  water  from  Boston  to,  130,  note 

threatened  with  famine,  139 

fort  built  at,  142,  note 

mentioned,  158,  159,  160,  161,  198,  246 

Winthrop's  discouraging  attitude,  193 

governor  of,  234,  note 
Plymouth  Colony,  248 
Plymouth  traders,  35 

settlers,  62 

people  go  to  Nauset  to  buy  corn,  79,  note 

profit  by  Indian  generosity,  164 

suggest  to  Winthrop  to  plant  colony  of  Connecticut,  193 
Pocanokit  (Pokonoket),  122,  note 
Pocassets,  49 
Pocumtucks,  466 
Podunks,  52 

driven  from  their  country,  467 
Pokonoket,  176 

derivation,  124,  note 
Pokonokets,  48,  49 

Policy  of  English  with  the  aborigine,  169 
Pomeroye,  Eltwood,  265,  note 
Popham,  Lord  chief  justice,  73 
Porter's  Rocks,  where  Mason  camped  night  before  attack  on  Fort 

Mystic,  268 
Powahes,  56 
Powows,  129,  note 

meeting  of,  after  fight  at  Nauset,  129,  note 
Powpynamett,  435 
Prat  (Pratt),  Phineas,  159 
Pratt,  Phineas,  159 
Praying  Indians,  54,  370 

[512] 


INDEX 

Praying  Indians,  attached  themselves  to  Philip,  371 

census  of,  375,  note 

places  of  worship,  375,  note,  376,  note 

removal  of,  to  island  in  Boston  Harbor,  376,  note 
Presumpscot,  42 
Prin,  Martin,  71 

Prophecy  of  the  French  sailor,  130 
Providence,  Roger  Williams  settlement  at,  261,  note 
Puckanokick  (Pokonoket),  149 
Puddington,  Mary,  259,  note 
Pumham,  used  by  English  against  Miantunnumoh,  350,  note 

claimed  to  be  sachem  of  Narragansetts,  350,  note 

killed  by  Nawashawenck,  350,  note 

mentioned,  405,  434 
Pummumshe,  431 
Pumpions,  41 
Pumumsks,  435 
Puncapug,  375 
Puppompogs,  334 
Purchas,  Samuel,  122,  note 

Puritan,  21,  note,  62,  63,  64,  82,  232,  note,  248,  note,  282,  note, 
296,  298,  324 

bullets,  82,  note 

his  avowed  purpose  toward  the  Indian,  163 

why  he  failed,  164 

compared  with  the  Pilgrim,  164 

his  creed  exemplified  in  John  Mason,  164 

the  opposite  of  the  Indian,  165 

as  a  slave-catcher,  294,  note 

government  shows  resentment  against  Miantunnumoh,  351,  note 
Puritans,  expected  to  be  missionaries  of  Christian  religion,  166 

their  conscience,  232,  note,  294,  note 

considered  in  relation  to  the  destruction  of  the  Pequods,  282, 
note 

their  bigotry,  299 

claim  Shawomet,  350,  note 

of  the  New  Haven  Colony,  356 

their  community  considered,  411 

their  influence  on  the  Indian,  411 
Puttaquppuunck,  321,  322,  note 

Quaboags,  raided  by  Uncas,  471 

[513] 


INDEX 

Quaboags,  captives  liberated,  471 
Quadequina,  116,  117,  118,  129 
Quahag,  35,  note 
Quame,  321,  note 
Quincy,  131 
Quinepaug,  287 
Quinipeac,  391 
Quinnebaug  River,  477 
Quinnipiacks,  52,  289,  303,  353,  354 

sell  land  to  the  English,  354 

consideration,  354 

treaty  with  English,  356 
Quonehtacut,  189 
Qunnonigat,  326,  note 

"Racounes,"  104,  note 
Rale,  Sebastian,  14,  23,  note,  31 
Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  190,  note 
Ralph,  of  Nobscussett,  78,  note 
Red  Island,  The  (der  Rood  Eylandt),  185,  note 
Relation  of  debarkation  from  Mayflower,  by  Morton,  87 
Restless,  name  of  Block's  vessel  built  at  Manhattan,  183,  note 
Rhode  Island,  mentioned,  47,  48,  233,  note,  238,  note,  246,  note, 
261,  note,  325 

discovered  by  Block,  185 

trade  established  there  by  the  Dutch,  185 

origin  of  the  name,  185,  note 

alarmed  by  the  Mohawks,  344 
Richmon,  George,  75,  76 
Richmond  Island,  75,  76,  note 
Rigges,  Sargante  (and  Jeffery),  223 
River  of  Red  Mountain  (Housatonic),  184 
Robin,  of  Ipswich,  173,  note 
Robin,  of  Massachusetts,  78,  note 
Robinson,  Rev.  John,  writes  Captain  Standish  of  the  massacre  at 

Wessaguscus,  162 

Rock  Hill,  Medford,  132,  133,  note 
Rumble,  Sir  Thomas,  237,  note 

Sabino,  26 

Sachem's  Head,  capture  of  Pequods  at,  301,  302 

Sachem's  Plain,  battle  of,  394 

[514] 


INDEX 

Sachem's  Plain,  Miantunnumoh  captured  at,  394 

Miantunimmoh  killed  at,  413 

his  burial-place,  heap  of  stones,  413 

pilgrimages  of  Narragansetts  to,  413 
Saco,  42 

Saconet,  84,  note 
Saconets,  50 

Sagadahoc  River,  26,  70,  71,  109,  note 
Sagadahoc  settlement,  the  first,  71 
Sagamore,  John,  reveals  plot  of  Narragansetts  to  Plymouth,  234, 

note 

Salem,  population  of,  1630,  172 
Saltonstall,  Sir  Richard,  205 

comes  to  Boston,  206 

made  assistant;  returned  to  England;  the  portrait,  206,  note 
Samoset   (John  Somerset),  21,  33,  note,  47,  48,  62,  77,  note,  96, 
note,  106,  note,  112,  note,  413 

his  first  visit  to  Plymouth,  109 

deed  to  John  Brown  of  Pemaquid  lands,  110,  note 

entertained  by  the  Pilgrims,  111 

gifts  to,  112,  note 

brings  his  friends  to  Plymouth,  113 

Mourt  describes  their  garb,  113 

singing  and  dancing,  113 

their  food,  114 

mentions  the  Nausets,  114,  note 

remains  at  Plymouth,  115 

English  give  him  a  hat,  etc.,  115 
Sampson  of  Nobscussett,  76,  note 
Sanaps,  the  wife  of,  and  Uncas,  448 
Sasco,  303 

Sassacouse  (Sassacus),  226 

Sassacus,  place  of  residence,  267,  286;  vide  43,  188,  200,  201,  202, 
226,  246,  254,  255,  263,  449 

attacks  English  at  Fort  Mystic,  276 

planned  to  invade  Narragansetts,  285 

holds  a  council  of  war,  285 

abandons  his  home,  286 

Mason's  attack  unexpected,  286 

former  power  as  a  sachem,  287 

takes  refuge  in  Fairfield  Swamp,  288,  289 

betrayed  by  Pequod  spies;  their  fate,  301 

[515] 


INDEX 

Sassacus,  escapes  capture  by  the  English,  310 

the  swamp  battle,  311 

his  fame,  311,  note 

his  desertion  of  his  people  considered,  312.  314 

inveterate  enemy  of  Pequods,  313 

flees  to  the  Mohawks;  surprised  and  killed  by  them,  315 

his  scalp  sent  to  the  Massachusetts  authorities,  315,  note 

beheaded  by  the  Mohawks,  318 
Saugatuck  River,  Patrick  buys  land  at  mouth  of,  366 
Saukatucketts,  51 
Saunders,  John,  149 

Say  and  Seal,  Lord,  205,  206,  note,  251,  note 
Saybrook,  fort  at,  235,  236 

mentioned,  228,  229,  note,  235,  250,  251,  note,  255,  256,  275, 
281,  363,  432 

attacked  by  Pequods,  236 
Scalping-knife,  46 
Scalps,  46,  note 
Scarborough  marshes,  75 
Schegichbi  (New  Jersey),  26,  note 
Schenectady,  270 

Scurvy-stricken  followers  of  Cartier,  31,  32,  note 
Sebequanash,  377 
Seekonk,  233,  note 
Seely,  Lieut.,  438,  note 
Seely,  Sergeant,  241,  note 
<4Sentinells"set,  93 

alarmed  at  Wellfleet  Bay,  104 
Separatists,  21,  62 
Sequassen,  sells  Connecticut  lands  to  English,  187,  247 

defeated  by  Uncas,  288,  289 

Uncas  and,  379 

feud  between  Uncas  and,  379 

plots  against  Uncas,  443 

summoned  to  Hartford,  443 

his  capture  and  release,  443,  444,  453,  460 

vide  453,  note 

relative  killed  by  a  Podunk,  463 

Uncas'  deputy,  Foxon,  appeals  to  Governor  Webster,  464 

matter  settled,  465,  186,  note 
Sequeen,  same  as  Sequassen 
Sequen  (Sequassen),  453 

[516] 


INDEX 

Sequen  (Sequassen),  returned  to  his  own  country,  460 
Sequin  (Sowheag),  241,  note 

Settlers,  two  hung  in  trees  on  Connecticut  River,  295 
Shallop,  the  Mayflower's,  87,  88,  96,  101 

Standish  sails  with  it  to  Cape  Cod,  96 

also  to  Wellfleet  Bay,  102 

mentioned,  112,  124,  131,  228,  note,  236,  note,  243,  note,  251 
Shantok  Point,  432 
Shawmut,  83,  note 
Shawomet,  350,  note 

Miantunnumoh  sells  same  to  Gorton,  and  begets  enmity  of  the 
English,  350,  note 

claimed  by  Plymouth  Colony,  350 
Shell-heaps,  27 
Shetucket  Indian  killed,  477 

Uncas  accused  of  the  crime,  477 
Shetucket  River,  391 
Shoes  of  Indians,  how  made,  121,  note 
Shurts,  Abraham,  at  Pemaquid,  110,  note,  174 
Sickenames  (Mystic)  River,  186,  note 
Six-mile  Island,  237,  note 

Skeleton  of  Indian  found  at  West  Medford,  132,  note 
Skittwarroes,  70 
Slaine,  John,  116,  note 
Slave- traffic,  Indian,  324,  note 

Massachusetts  Bay  not  averse  to,   319,  note,  324,  note,  350, 

note 

Slaves,  Pequods  sent  to  Massachusetts  as,  293 
Smith,  Capt.  John,  68,  72,  98,  note,  111,  note,  122,  note,  135,  136 

his  visit  to  Massachusetts  Bay,  135 
Smith,  Mr.,  mentioned,  213 
Smyth,  Francis,  434 
Snaphance,  105 
Sochoso,  196,  note 
Sohegans,  452,  note 
Sokaknoco,  434,  note 
Sokoki,  42,  43 

Solon,  Me.,  rock-tracings  at,  29 
Sommers,  Will,  151 
Southport,  Me.,  77,  note 
Southworth,  Constant,  78,  note 
Sowaams  (Puckanokick),  149 

[517] 


INDEX 

Sowgans,  452,  note 

Sowheag,  52,  241,  note,  357,  note,  358,  359 

cause  of  attack  on  Wethersfield,  357,  note 
Sparrow,  The,  at  Plymouth,  144 

Weston's  vessel,  sails  later  for  Wessagusset,  144 
Spencer,  John,  238,  note 
Spurwink,  75 
Squanto,  36,  note,  74,  75,  115,  note,  116,  140 

comes  into  Plymouth,  115 

only  survivor  of  plague  at  Patuxet,  116 

a  plotter,  116 

as  a  pilot,  117 

as  an  interpreter,  117 

sent  to  Aspinet,  125,  126,  note,  127,  128 

plots,  126,  note 

rumor  of  his  death,  127 

Standish  goes  to  Nemasket  to  his  rescue,  127 

Standish  attacks  Corbitant's  village,  128 

wounded  Indians  taken  to  Plymouth,  128 

goes  with  Standish  to  Massachusetts  Bay,  130 

suggests  robbing  the  Massachusetts  Indians,  134 

arouses  anger  of  Massasoit,  137 

who  demands  of  Winslow  his  surrender,  137  (Drake's  note), 
138,  note 

interprets  the  message  of  Canonicus  to  Bradford,  142 
Squantum  Headland,  131 
Squashes,  41 

St.  Bartholomew  massacre,  296,  note 
St.  Castin,  45 
St.  Charles  River,  32 
St.  John's  River,  Ingram  at,  264,  note 
St.  Lawrence  River,  42 
Stadacone,  31 
Stamford,  259,  note,  367 
Stamford,  outrage  at,  427 
Stamford  village,  Indian  raid  on,  423,  note,  427 

Dutch  at,  426,  427 

settlers  call  on  Hartford  for  help,  427 

Standish,  Miles,  67,  79;  also  note;  likewise  notes  on  80,  84,  89,  92, 
102,  115,  118,  128,  129,  130, 134, 149, 153,  245 

experience  in  Low  Countries,  80,  note,  95,  note 

discovers  Indians,  92 

[518] 


INDEX 

Standish,  Miles,  his  party  finds  great  "  Ketle,"  92 

also  a  basket  of  corn,  93 

description  of  same,  93 

his  acts  of  vandalism,  99,  note 

ghoulish  curiosity,  100 

shoots  his  first  Indian,  105,  note 

given  full  authority  in  military  matters,  109 

attacks  Namasket,  128 

conveys  wounded  Indians  to  Plymouth,  128 

explores  Massachusetts  Bay,  130 

raids  Wessaguscus;   massacre  of  Wittuwamet  and   Pecksuot, 
149-157 

disposition  with  savage,  152 

alleged  valor,  153 

informs  Weston's  men  of  Indian's  plot,  154 

derided  by  Wittuwamet,  156 

mentioned,  157,  160 

returns  to  Plymouth  safely,  158 

died  at  Duxbury,  89,  note 
Stanton,  Thomas,  224,  239,  note,  240,  note,  307 

parleys  with  Pequods,  224,  239,  note,  240,  note,  307 

sent  by  the  Massachusetts  Commissioners  to  the  Narragansetts, 

454 

Stoddard,  Rev.  Solomon,  his  letter  to  Governor  Dudley,  170 
Stone,  Captain,  murder  of,  188,  189,  note,  197,  199,  202,  203,  207, 

210,  211,  228 

Stone,  chaplain  of  Mason's  company  at  Fort  Mystic,  257 
Stonington,  246 
Stonington,  North,  246 
Stony  Brook,  78,  note 
Stoughton,  Captain  Israel,  sent  into  the  Pequod  country,  290 

mentioned,  225,  295 

his  force  reduced,  290 

his  movements,  291 

lands  at  Pequod  River,  291 

joined  by  the  Narragansetts,  291 

captures  a  small  party  of  Pequods,  292 

Hubbard  remarks  upon  his  disposition  of,  292,  note 

his  letter  to  Winthrop,  292,  note 

reserving  some  of  the  captive  savages  to  his  own  use,  292,  note 

Drake  suggests  his  motive  in  this,  294,  note 

joined  by  Mason  in  his  pursuit  of  the  fleeing  Pequods,  298 

[519] 


INDEX 

Stoughton,    Captain   Israel,    extracts    from    MS.    letter    of,    312, 

note 

Stratford  Feny,  Mohawks  at,  444 
Straw,  Jack,  190,  note 
Strong  waters,  57,  117 
Succonet,  150,  note 

Taretines  (Tarratines),  133,  note,  174 
Tarratines,  42 

their  foray  against  the  Massachusetts,  132 

marauding  excursions,  172,  173,  note 
Tassquanot,  448 
Tatobam,  43,  246,  note 
Taunton,  30,  note 
Taunton  River,  28 
Thames  River,  414 

Mason  retires  to  mouth  of,  275 

Thanksgiving  ordered  on  return  of  soldiers  from  fight  at  Fairfield 
Swamp,  313,  note 

at  New  Amsterdam,  426 
Thistle,  totem,  26,  note 

Thompson's  House  raided  by  the  Pocumtucks,  469 
Thompson's  Island,  131 
Thorfinne  Karlsefne,  29,  note 
Thorvald,  29,  note 
Tille,  243,  note 
Tilley,  Edward,  89 
Tilley,  John,  captured  and  tortured  at  Saybrook,  242,  244,  note 

incensed  with  Gardener,  243,  and  note 

mentioned,  283,  295 
Tilley's  Folly,  243,  note 
Tisquantum,  70,  74,  115,  note 

Tobacco,  37,  note,  41,  57,  114,  121,  258,  note,  339,  note 
Tolland,  county  of,  246,  note 
Tomahawk,  46 

Tontinimo,  Podunk  sachem,  464 
Torture  of  victims,  44 

manner  of,  46 
Trask,  Captain,  223 
Treaty,  between  English  and  Massasoit,  119 

with  Corbitant  and  other  sachems,  129,  note 

of  October  8,  1640,  source  of  litigation,  378 

[520] 


INDEX 

Treaty,  Mohegan  title  questioned,  378 
between  Pessicus  and  English,  443 
Trelawney,  Edward,  76,  note 
Trumbull's  account  of  torture  of  colonists  captured  by  Pequods  on 

Connecticut  River,  288,  note 
Tunxis  Conspiracy,  420 
Turkey,  totem,  26,  note 
Turner,  Captain,  his  expedition  against  Block  Island,  227 

Unalatchgo,  26,  note 

Unamis,  26,  note 

Uncas,  43, 188,  and  note,  200,  226,  246,  248,  252,  263,  431,  note 

character,  246,  note 

feud  between  and  Miantunnumoh,  247,  note 

buried,  247,  note 

exploit  of,  on  march  to  Saybrook,  250 

his  integrity  doubted  by  Gardener,  251 

foray  at  Bass  River,  251 

captures  Kiswas,  251 

a  renegade  Pequod,  267 

wounded  at  Fort  Mystic,  270,  273 

joins  in  pursuit  of  the  Pequods,  300 

captures  a  party  of  Pequods  at  Sachem's  Head,  302 

weakness  of  the  Mohegans,  320 

goes  to  Boston,  325 

accused  by  Massachusetts  authorities  of  deceit,  326 

his  protestations  of  good  faith,  327 

called  to  Hartford  by  English,  330 

his  star  of  fortune  in  the  ascendent,  330 

commanded  to  appear  before  Council,  333 

Stanton  charges  him  with  lying,  335 

prominence  of,  345 

arouses  suspicions  of  Narragansetts,  346 

claims  leadership  of  Pequod  country,  372 

married  Sebaquanash,  377 

hatred  of  Narragansetts  for,  379 

accuses  Miantunnumoh  of  conspiracy,  379 

attempt  upon  life  of,  382 

charges  his  injury  to  Miantunnumoh,  384 

complains  to  Massachusetts  authorities,  387 

his  duplicity  suspected,  387 

alleged  assailant  killed  by  Miantunnumoh,  387 

[521] 


INDEX 

Uncas,  second  attempt  on  life  of,  388 

Governor  Haynes  investigates,  388 

his  demands  of  the  Narragansetts,  388 

other  attempts  to  kill  him,  389 

invades  Sequassen's  territory,  successfully,  389 

is  advised  of  march  of  Narragansetts  against  him,  392 

collects  his  warriors,  392 

surprises  the  Narragansetts  by  a  ruse,  393 

the  parley,  393 

fight  at  Sachem's  Plain,  393,  et  seq. 

account  of  fight  by  Hyde,  394,  note 

takes  Miantunnumoh  to  Hartford,  401 

his  fears,  402 

advised  by  Connecticut  magistrates,  402 

character  of,  reconsidered,  407,  note 

summoned  to  Hartford,  412 

agrees  to  kill  Miantunnumoh,  412 

his  alleged  acts  of  cannibalism,  413 

Miantunnumoh  murdered  by  Wawequa,  a  brother  of,  413 
by  direction  of  the  Connecticut  Commissioners,  412 

English  appoint  witnesses  to  the  act,  412 

Pessicus   and,  summoned  to  Hartford  to  settle  their  differ 
ences,  428,  430,  note 

besieged  by  Pessicus,  432 

released  by  Leffingwell,  432,  468,  note 

appears  at  Stamford  with  his  warriors,  445 

investigates  murder  of  Whittemore,  446 

inclined  to  be  troublesome,  447 

complained  of  by  Peeters  and  Morton,  447 

defiles  the  wife  of  Sanaps,  448 

a  child  of,  dies;  custom,  448 

sends  Wawequa  to  the  Pequods,  449 

complained  of  by  Obechiquod  and  Cassasinamon,  449 

is  defended  at  Boston  by  Foxon,  450 

complained  of  by  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  451 

involves  Wawequa,  451 

reproved  by  magistrates  and  fined,  452 

authorized  to  reduce  the  Pequods  to  obedience,  453 

attacked  by  Cuttaquin,  456 

a  necessary  evil  to  the  English,  458 

his  character  again  under  discussion,  459 

jealous  of  Sequassen,  460 


INDEX 

Uncas,  visits  Governor  Haynes,  461 

is  given  powder  and  bullets,  461 

complains  of  Ninigret,  461 

makes  a  compact  with  Sequassen,  463 

assembles  a  war-party  against  the  Podunks,  465 

driven  into  his  fort  by  Pessicus,  466 

makes  a  raid  upon  the  Narragansetts,  466,  note,  467 

Canonchet  notifies  Uncas  to  let  the  Podunks  alone,  467 

surrender  of  Weasapano  demanded  by,  467 

refused,  he  obtains  Weasapano  by  a  ruse,  467 

ordered  into  court,  470 

raids  the  Nipmucks,  470 

also  the  Quabaugs,  471 

ordered  by  John  Mason  to  release  Quabaug  captives,  471 

Mason  anticipated,  471 

last  days  of,  474 

described  by  Gookin,  474 

accused  of  murder  of  Shetucket  Indian,  477 

protests  innocence,  477 

described  by  Fitch,  the  missionary,  478 

death  of,  478 
Uncass  (Uncas),  226 

Underbill,  Captain  John,  expedition  against  Block  Island,  227,  228, 
note,  229,  note,  230 

relieves  Saybrook  Fort,  240 

joins  Mason's  expedition  against  Pequods,  257 

a  description  of,  257,  note 

reproved  by  Cotton,  258,  note 

punished  by  the  church,  259,  note 

enters  employ  of  the  Dutch,  259,  note 

settlers  at  Stamford,  Conn.,  259,  note 

at  Dover,  259,  note 

assumes  governorship  of  New  Hampshire,  259,  note 

delegate  to  New  Haven  Court,  259,  note 

appointed  Assistant  Justice  for  colony,  259,  note 

commanded  Dutch  against  Indians,  260,  note 

battle  of  Strickland's  Plain,  260,  note 

settled  afterward  at  Flushing,  260,  note 

delegate  from  Oyster  Bay  to  Assembly,  260,  note 

under-sheriff,  Queen's  County,  260,  note 

died  at  Oyster  Bay,  260,  note 

mentioned  by  Hubbard,  260,  note 

[523] 


INDEX 

Underbill,  Captain  John,  the  attack  of  Fort  Mystic,  270,  273 

described  by  Vincent  as  a  poltroon,  279 

rescues  the  Narragansetts  and  Mohegans  from   Pequods,  279 

vide  425,  note,  426 

destroys  an  Indian  village,  426 
Ungongoit,  77,  note 

Van  Curler,  Jacob,  186, 187 

builds  fort  on  Connecticut  River,  187,  293,  note 
Van  Dyck,  Ensign,  426 
Van  Twiller,  Wouter,  186,  191 
Vane,  Gov.  Harry,  defeated  by  Winthrop,  249,  note 

mentioned,  208,  214,  226,  238,  note,  246 

the  election,  293,  note 
Vane,  Sir  Henry,  380,  note 
Verrazano,  Foster's  story  of  capture  of  a  boy,  69 
Vincent,  description  of  Underbill,  279 
Vines,  Richard,  174 
Virginia  settlers,  massacre  of,  141 

Waban's  wigwam,  Eliot  held  first  church  service  among  the  Indi 
ans  at,  373,  note 
Wabequasset,  474,  note 
Wachusett,  171,  174  note 
Wagonckwut,  322,  note 
Wahginacut,  a  Podunk  sachem,  190 

makes  overtures  to  Winthrop,  191 
Waiandance,  252,  note 

his  daughter  captured  by  Ninigret,  262,  note 

betrays  Miantunnumoh's  purpose  to  Gardener,  385 
Walford,  Thomas,  22,  note 
Wamesits,  452,  note 

Wampanoags,  48,  121,  note,  125,  126,  128,  163,  323,  note,  324 
Wampan-oke,  124,  note 
Wampas,  373,  note 

Wampeag,  Monheag  medicine-man,  captured  by  Mohegans,  461 
Wampompeag  (wampum),  203,  note 

Wampum,  wampumpeag,  35,  note,  56,  64,  note,  203,  204,  note,  211, 
383,  note,  386,  405,  449,  452,  456,  note,  464,  469 

Plymouth  buys,  204,  note 

how  made,  205,  note 

[524] 


INDEX 

Wampum,  given  to  Uncas  to  ransom  Miantunnumoh,  398 

also  to  commissioners,  399,  note 
Wamsutta,  471 
Wanape,  73 

War  declared  against  the  Massachusetts,  149 
Wars  of  the  Connecticut  Indians  ended,  478 
Warwick,  Earl  of,  205,  401,  note 
Wassamaquin  (Massasoit),  173 
Wassapinewat,  149 
Waterford,  246,  note 
Watertown,  192,  note,  411 
Watertown  Mill,  372,  note 
Wattone,  365 
Wawequa,  412,  413,  449 

depredations  on  neighboring  Indians,  446,  451 

complained  of  by  Nipmucks,  452 
Way,  Thomas,  77,  note 
Waymouth,  Captain  George,  115,  note,  140 
Weasapano,  466,  467 

kills  relative  of  Sequassen,  464,  466,  note 
Weaugomhick,  328 
Wecapaug  Brook,  196 
Wedgewood,  John,  307,  note 
Weeks  family,  murdered,  207,  note 
Weetamoo,  81,  84 

death  of,  50,  note 
Weetowisse,  429,  431 
Wekapaug  (Westerly),  265,  note 

seat  of  the  Nehantics,  199 
Welde,  Rev.  Thomas,  424,  note 
Wellfleet  Bay,  102 
Wepawaugs,  289 

Wequash,  189,  note,  270,  287,  note;  also,  note  in  full,  328;  351,  363, 
note 

various  estimates  of  his  character,  270,  note 
Wequaumugs,  328 
Wessagusset  (Wessaguscus),  22,  note,  128,  note,  143,  144,  145,  146, 

149,  153,  155,  170 
Wessagussets,  51 
West  India  Company,  185 
Westerly,  199,  note,  265,  note 
Weston  Settlement,  22,  note 

[525] 


INDEX 

Weston,  Thomas,  135,  138,  144,  151 

his  connection  with  the  Plymouth  Settlement,  135 

sails  along  North  Shore,  135 

terminates  his  connection  with  Plymouth  venture,  136 

his  shallop  puts  into  Plymouth,  138 

sends  a  colony  to  Wessagusset,  143 

his  company  made  up  of  profligates,  144 

hanging  of  the  weaver,  144 

Hubbard  denies  the  fact,  148,  note 

his  plantation  at  Wessaguscus,  146 

disposition  of  Plymouth  toward  his  colony,  150,  note 

suffering  of  his  men  at  Wessaguscus,  153 

threatened  by  Indians,  153 

sell  their  clothes  for  corn,  153 

doubts  Standish's  story  of  plot,  154 

betrayed  Standish's  confidence,  154 

his  colony,  and  its  dispersion,  158 
Wethersfield  Colony,  241,  244,  254,  258,  283,  316 

settlement  warned,  242,  note 

man  killed  at,  242,  note 

surprised,  242,  note 

quota  for  Pequod  War,  245 

mentioned,  283 

Weymouth,  at  Sagadahoc  River,  70 
Wheelwright,  antinomian  pretender,  250,  note 
Whittemore,  John,  murdered  at  Stamford,  445 

his  body  found,  446 
Wigwams,  57,  103,  167,  229,  note,  241,  note 

interior  of,  103,  note,  104,  note 

burning  of,  at  Fort  Mystic,  271,  272;  also,  272,  note,  283,  316, 

note,  360,  382 

Willard,  Major,  despatched  against  the  Nehantics,  462 
Williams,  name  of  family  massacred  near  Hartford,  207,  note 
Williams  (Williamson),  John,  118,  note 

Williams,  Roger,  41,  note,  48,    124,  note,  143,  note,  188,  note,  208, 
209,  261 

visits  Canonicus  in  behalf  of  Plymouth,  231,  232,  234,  note 

banished  from  Plymouth,  notes  on  232  and  233 

his  career,  261,  note 

compared  with  the  two  Mathers,  261,  note 

forbidden  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts,  262,  note 

finds  asylum  in  Rhode  Island,  262,  note 

[526] 


INDEX 

Williams,  Roger,  the  prophet  of  his  time,  262,  note 

employed  by  Winthrop  as  ambassador  to  Narragansetts,  319, 
note,  320,  note 

vide,  also,  327,  328,  329 

accompanies  Narragansetts  to  Hartford,  331 

goes  to  Boston  with  Miantunnumoh,  380,  note 

sends  a  letter  to  the  magistrates,  436 

warning  them  that  war  is  imminent,  437 
Williamson,  Master,  118,  note 
Willson,  Mr.,  225 
Winchester,  132 
Wincombone,  wife  of  Mononotto,  316;  also  note 

Hubbard's  relation  of  her,  317,  note 
Windsor's  quota  for  Pequod  War,  245 

vide,  194,  207,  244 

settled,  207 
Wine,  57 

Winge,  John,  78,  note 
Winnepesaukees,  452,  note 
Winslow,  Edward,  36,  note,  37,  note,  62,  84,  note,  102,  149,  193,  194 

compensates  Massasoit  for  corn  taken  by  Standish,  101 

meets  Massasoit  first  time,  117 

gifts  to,  117 

his  entertainment  of,  117 

his  display,  119 

visits  Massasoit,  124 

refuses  to  surrender  Squanto  to  Massasoit's  messengers,  137, 
138,  note 

plays  Esculapius,  152 

Relation  referred  to,  154 

his  narrative  of  the  precarious  existence  of  Obtakiest  and  his 

people,  161 

Winter,  John,  76,  note 

Winthrop,  John,  Gov.,  22,  note,  81,  83,  note,  190,  191,  note,  194, 
note,  198,  note,  203,  note,  212,  218,  222,  226,  229,  293, 
note,  403,  452 

at  Salem,  174 

protests  against  the  Dutch  settling  on  the  Connecticut,  191 

claims  country  under  New  England  Charter,  191 

discourages  settlement  of  the  Connecticut  lands,  193 

his  and  Bradford's  Letters  on  the  Pequod  War,  210-227,  294, 
note 

[527] 


INDEX 

Winthrop,  John,  Gov.,  interest  in  Mononotto's  wife  and  children, 
225 

convicted  of  leniency  to  Roger  Williams,  232,  note 

his  disposition  of  Miantunnumoh,  248,  note 

engineers  his  own  election,  249,  note 

the  son  of  a  lawyer,  262 

Barry's  description  of,  262 

his  acquiescence  in  enslaving  Pequods,  294,  note 

his  guiding  hand  in  affairs,  297 

attitude  toward  the  aborigine,  324,  note 

description  of  Miantunnumoh  before  the  court  at  Boston,  382, 
note 

after  death  of  Miantunnumoh  threatens  the  Narragansetts,  415 

his  reply  to  Pessicus,  418 
Winthrop,  Jr.,  John,  of  New  London,  207,  433 

complains  of  Uncas,  451 
Witchcraft,  57,  459,  461 
Wittuwamet,  84,  note,  85,  note,  129,  note,  150,  note,  156,  160,  171 

massacre  of,  149-158 

boasts  of  his  knife  to  Standish,  155 

his  head  set  up  on  Plymouth  fort,  158 
"Wolves  unkennelled,"  339,  note 
"Woman,"  used  in  contumely,  37 
Wongungs,  52 
Woodstock,  474 
Woosamequin,  120,  note 
Wopigwooit,  a  Pequod  sachem,  186,  188,  200,  note 

sells  Connecticut  lands  to  the  Dutch,  186 

the  price  given,  187 

his  death,  189,  200 
Wopowags,  52 

Wunnashowhatuckoogs,  331,  333 
Wunnaumwauonck  (faithfulness),  143,  note 
Wurregen,  387,  note 
Wuttackquiackommin,  328,  note 
Wuttamaoug,  41 

Yarmouth,  51 
Yotash,  321,  note,  361 


[  528] 


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